§ Lord Lucasasked Her Majesty's Government:
Whether the practice of "pithing" cattle at slaughter results in the contamination of the carcass with brain material; and, if so, what is the level of such contamination. [HL1523]
§ The Minister of State, Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food (Baroness Hayman)The Government have funded research which found evidence of contamination of jugular blood by fragments of brain tissue in one out of 16 animals which were pithed following stunning. That research did not investigate whether any traces of brain tissue could be transported in the blood to the rest of the carcase. The results were published in the Veterinary Record of 16 October 1999. The Spongiform Encephalopathy Advisory Committee reviewed the research findings and advised that there is no reason on the basis of current data to change UK practices of stunning and pithing during slaughter of cattle.