EU ban on UK meat stripping

A TECHNIQUE used in the UK to remove meat from animal bones will be banned this month following a moratorium by the European Commission.

The Food Standards Agency (FSA) said it had agreed to the moratorium but stressed there was no evidence of any risk to human health from eating cow and sheep meat produced from the low-pressure “Desinewed Meat” (DSM) removal technique.

It said a “very small part” of the UK’s meat processing industry used the DSM technique to remove meat from animal bones, with the product closely resembling minced meat.

In a statement, the FSA said the DSM process had been used in the UK since the mid-1990s, and local producers had reported that DSM meat was exported by other EU countries.

The agency added: “There is no evidence of any risk to human health from eating meat produced from the low-pressure DSM technique. There is no greater risk from eating this sort of produce than any other piece of meat or meat product. The EU Commission has informed us today they do not consider this to be a public health concern.”