The news that the Irish T-bone steak could be back on the menu again was welcomed yesterday by the head of the Food Safety Authority, Dr Patrick Wall.
On Thursday, Mr David Byrne, the EU Commissioner for Health and Consumer Protection, indicated that because of low levels of BSE infection in Europe, the ban on the T-bone might be lifted.
He said 4.4 million tests had been carried out for BSE in the EU and the youngest animal found with the disease was aged 42 months.
He said the Commission may look at easing some of the restrictions on meat and one of those would be the ban imposed on the sale of T-bone steak.
Dr Wall welcomed the moves by the Commission and said the organisation's Scientific Committee had recommended lifting the ban on the T-bone from animals born after January 1st, 1998.
He said T-bone steaks from such animals which had never been fed on meat and bone meal were perfectly safe and that report had gone to Brussels in support of the Department of Agriculture's submission for a derogation from the ban.