Contamination of beef carcasses by spinal cord tissue during splitting

In 1989/90, the use of specified bovine offal (SBO) in human food was banned in the UK. Spinal cord, an SBO material, is now removed from beef carcasses post splitting. More recently, following a European Commission Decision introduced on 1st October 2000, regulations in all EU states require the removal of central nervous system (CNS) material from sheep carcasses over 12 months of age and all cattle carcasses. However, in the majority of abattoirs, carcasses are split using a band saw; this often cuts the spinal cord in half along much of its length. This can obviously lead to potential dissemination of CNS material over the carcass and surrounding area resulting in possible contamination with the bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) infective agent. We have used enzyme-linked immunosorbant assays (ELISAs) to detect CNS-specific glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP) and S-100β protein. Both assays show the presence of CNS material on the carcass after splitting with a conventional band saw. This contamination was still present after the carcass had been washed or steam-vacuum cleaned. However, significantly less CNS contamination was observed on carcasses whose spinal column had been removed by an experimental oval saw prior to splitting. With further engineering development, this new technique should be capable of removing spinal cord with minimal contamination risk.