The European Commission this week agreed a total ban on the use of so-called ‘specified risk material’

Date: 31/07/1997

in food, animal feed, cosmetics and pharmaceuticals, after agriculture ministers failed to reach a clear verdict on the proposals. The new law bans the use of the skull - including brains and eyes - the tonsils and spinal cord of cattle, sheep and goats over 12 months of age and the spleen of all sheep and goats.