Under the Over Thirty Month (OTM) rule introduced during the BSE epidemic, all British cattle slaughtered at 30 months or over are currently not allowed into the human food chain.

However, the Food Standards Agency (FSA) has today agreed to recommend to Government ministers that it would be acceptable on public health grounds to replace the ban with the testing of cattle older than thirty months. If the recommendation is implemented any cattle testing positive for BSE will be destroyed.

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