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Kurt Sansone
New “preventive” regulations issued by the Public Health Department to all butchers in July have rung the death knell for the all-time barbecue favourite beef cut known as T-bone, after butchers were instructed to remove the spinal cord from beef carcasses and return it to the abattoir for certification.
T-bone steak is the cut that contains part of the spinal T-shaped bone and is very similar to the Bistecca Fiorentina so popular in the Tuscan region in Italy.
The circular, seen by MaltaToday was issued jointly by the Public Health Department and the Food and Veterinary Regulation Division following approval by the Food Safety Commission. It gave butchers detailed instructions on how to remove the spinal cord, considered to be specified risk material (SRM) because of its potential to carry BSE that causes mad cow disease.
The regulations have left butchers in a conundrum but when contacted by this newspaper the Public Health Department said that “the removal of spine is carried out as a preventive measure in line with EU Directives.”
The department also sought to put people’s minds at rest, pointed out that since testing for BSE began in March 2001 no case of BSE has been found in Maltese beef.
However, since the EU directives apply to both imported and fresh Maltese beef that originates from animals over 12 months of age when slaughtered, the new regulations make it impossible for fresh T-bone steak to be sold. Butchers are not informed of the age of Maltese cattle when these are slaughtered at the abattoir and in most cases these are much older than 12 months.
The Public Health Department said that “T-bone steak originating from animals under 12 months is allowed.” This means that the only T-bone steak that can be sold on the domestic market is that originating from imported beef that in many instances quotes the age of slaughter.
The circular echoes the furore that erupted in the Tuscan region when the Bistecca Fiorentina was banned for consumption during the Europe-wide BSE scare some four years ago. It eventually returned in Florence’s macellerie after tighter regulations on the age of slaughter were introduced.
Conscientious Maltese butchers were baffled by the circular because it did not specify whether the instructions applied for both imported and fresh Maltese beef. It also made no reference to the age of the animal from which the beef originated.
A butcher who spoke to this newspaper also questioned the rationale behind the circular: “All Maltese beef is tested for BSE prior to being sold hence it makes no sense to ask us to remove the spine because it poses a high risk. In any case if the spine is found to be infected the meat would have already been sold.”
According to EU regulations, meat animals have to be slaughtered in an approved establishment and then trimmed in a separate cutting establishment. The department said that in view of the Maltese context where no cutting establishment exists and given that the removal of SRM cannot be carried out at the abattoir, it was approved that “the removal of SRM be carried out at the point of sale.”
The circular gives butchers detailed food handling instructions on how to remove the spinal cord to avoid contamination risk. It also makes it clear that the regulations need to be adhered to at all times and if butchers default, legal action can be taken against them.
kurt@newsworksltd.com
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