Rationalised rejection conditions result in all or part of a carcase being rejected for human consumption.

Changes follow industry consultation 

New sheep and beef meat inspections have come into force as the result of a project involving AHDB Beef & Lamb and the Food Standards Agency (FSA).

The rationalised rejection conditions - conditions that result in all or part of a carcase being rejected for human consumption - are the first major step towards improving the efficiency and efficacy of the farm-to-fork information cycle.

The changes follow industry consultation and successful trials in abattoirs across the UK. They aim to maintain the health and welfare of livestock, safeguard UK consumers, and protect the UK’s reputation in relation to exports.

One of the new features is the introduction of a standardised screen layout to facilitate the accurate recording of data.

AHDB say that this will benefit FSA meat hygiene inspectors because it means the same conditions can be found in the same place on the screen, no matter where in the country they are working.

The move has been welcomed by Dovecot Park, who supply British beef, veal and venison to Waitrose supermarkets nationwide.  Technical director Peter Boyes said:

“Dovecote Park welcomes the new post-mortem cattle conditions as they convey a much simpler and standardised set of disorders that is more useful to the modern farmer.

"Standardising the conditions across the country will mean that wherever cattle are slaughtered there will be a consistency in the information recorded by meat inspectors. This in turn will lead to clearer information to farmers to understand what treatment to give their herds in the future and also what actions have worked well.”

He added: “This information has been available to our farmers for many years now and have already seen benefits in their own health plans. We feel that the standardisation and availability of these post-mortem conditions can only help improve the British beef cattle herd.”

To ensure a smooth implementation of the project, the roll out is being staggered as follows:

North West of England – week commencing 23rd May
North East of England – week commencing 6th June
South East of England – week commencing 20th June
South West of England – week commencing 4th July
Wales – week commencing 18th July

To find out more information about the CCIR project, or if you have specific feedback about the changes, please contact Ramon Romero, FSA programme lead, by emailing iris@foodstandards.gsi.gov.uk.

Image (C)Thomas Bjorkan