EU proposes further easing of mad cow restrictions on use of beef on the bone

The European Commission on Tuesday proposed a further easing of EU mad cow restrictions on the use of beef on the bone.

If approved by EU governments, the changes would raise the age limit at which the spine must be removed from slaughtered cattle. The EU executive says, based on recent scientific research, it is now safe to increase the age from 24 to 30 months.

The EU banned all consumption of beef-on-the-bone products in wake of the 2001 mad cow crisis, but has gradually eased restrictions as cases of the disease have dropped.

A higher age limit, if approved by EU governments, will help cut costs incurred by farmers and meat packers which are forced to apply the strict safety restrictions, the commission said. It will also reduce the amount of product that was previously thrown away because of the restrictions.

At the height of the crisis in 2001, the EU banned beef-on-the-bone products like T-bone steaks to reduce the risk of humans contracting a brain-wasting disease from eating beef infected with bovine spongiform encephalopathy, known as mad cow disease.

A rare but fatal form of the disease in humans, variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease, is linked to eating meat products contaminated with mad cow disease and was blamed for about 150 deaths, most of them in Britain, beginning in 1995.