The majority of BSE cases occurred in the UK and 88 of 92 known cases of vCJD in the world were reported there. The emergence of BSE preceded vCJD indicating a possible association. The consumption of beef is not considered a risk factor for contracting vCJD, rather it is the consumption of contaminated beef products. The consumption of this material is high risk and exposure to BSE may have occurred in those who may have eaten such material, particularly mechanically recovered meat. SRM is isolated when the animals are slaughtered, permanently stained and removed directly to a specially dedicated rendering plant, where it is processed and the resultant meat and bonemeal and tallow is stored pending destruction by incineration.
Some meat remains on carcass skeletons following deboning by conventional techniques.
In the past, additional meat was removed from the skeleton mechanically. The practice involved putting the skeletons into machines, which using high pressure removed residual meat and tissues. This mechanically recovered meat could have contained spinal cord and other SRM and was used for economy burgers, pies and other low-grade meat products. In Ireland, this practice was banned in May 1996. This ban did not apply to pig and poultry feed as they are non-ruminants, and unfortunately opportunities for cross contamination in mills and on farms existed until the regulations on the inclusion of Meat and Bone Meal were tightened up and enforced fully by the Department of Agriculture in 1996 and 1997.