Authorised Butchers to remove vertebral column

Agency lists butchers authorised to remove vertebral column in 24 – 30 month old cattle
Thursday 16 November 2006
Following harmonisation of UK specified risk material (SRM) controls with those applicable in other Member States, the UK has taken up a derogation, available under EU legislation, to allow specifically authorised butchers' shops to handle carcases of 24 – 30 months cattle containing SRM vertebral column (SRM VC).
As a result, butchers who have been granted authorisations by their local authority are now allowed to remove SRM VC from 24-30 months cattle on their premises.
The Food Standards Agency is now publishing lists of butchers in England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland authorised to remove SRM VC from 24 – 30 months cattle.
The lists (available at the link below) are incomplete, as not all local authorities have responded to the Agency’s request for information.
Therefore, before despatching carcases and part-carcases containing SRM VC to butchers, slaughterhouses and cutting plants should obtain a copy of the authorisation from the butcher concerned, or check with the relevant local authority.
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Butchers authorised to remove vertebral column in 24-30 months bovines

Food Microbiology

Tuesday 31st was the latest Food Microbiology course run in central Scotland at the Livingston Training Centre. The course was attended by delegates from the Food Manufacturing sector. The course lasted the full day with a number of workshops and included a practical workshop also. The feed back indicated that all the delegates that attended found the course enjoyable and informative.
Comments included:- 'I now know what to accept from labs', 'I learned about pseudomonas', 'found it very informative' and 'I understand the process within Microbiology'.

The course will be running again in the near future, so let us know if you or a colleague would like to attend.
Other course running are:-
RIPH Intermediate HACCP
REHIS Introductory HACCP
BRC awareness course
Internal auditing course
REHIS Food Hygiene.

Contact us on perry@outsourcesolution.co.uk or visit our web site www.outsourcesolution.co.uk

Oatcake recall

Oatcakes recalled because they may contain glass
Friday 03 November 2006
Simmers of Edinburgh has recalled certain batches of Nairn’s Organic Herb Oatcakes because they could have been contaminated with glass. The Food Standards Agency Scotland has issued a Food Alert for Information.
Simmers of Edinburgh, which manufactured the oatcakes, has been working with the relevant retailers to make sure that potentially affected products are withdrawn from sale. Product-recall notices will be placed in the national press from 6 November 2006, and are being displayed in stores to tell customers about the problem and what to do if they have bought the product.
Product details
Nairn’s Organic Herb Oatcakes, 250g, with the following ‘best before’ dates:
8 April 2007 (Production Code 4066)
25 March 2007 (Production Code 3836)
25 February 2007 (Production Code 3446)
No other batch codes or products are known to be affected.