Volume 14: Responsibilities for Human and Animal Health
3. Red meat hygiene at the slaughterhouse
Introduction

3.1 In 1986, the condition of meat entering the human food chain was regulated in three ways. Firstly, it was an offence for slaughtering to take place on any premises unless these met certain standards of hygiene and had been licensed. Secondly, animals and carcasses whose physical condition did not meet certain standards could not be admitted to a slaughterhouse. Thirdly, the carcasses of slaughtered animals had to be inspected and passed fit for human consumption.

3.2 This chapter describes the powers and duties in place at the end of 1986 concerning:

1. the conditions under which slaughtering took place;
2. the slaughtering process itself;
3. the production of red meat for human consumption;
4. the process of determining whether meat was fit for human consumption; and
5. the treatment of meat found to be unfit for human consumption ('unfit meat').

3.3 The chapter also considers changes to those powers and duties between 1986 and 20 March 1996 that were not prompted by BSE. Those changes in which BSE did play a part are described and discussed in other volumes:

1. the measures to remove Specified Bovine Offal (SBO) from the human food chain are covered in vol. 6: Human Health, 1989-96; and
2. the measures to remove SBO from the animal food chain are covered in vol. 5: Animal Health, 1989-96.

3.4 In 1986, slaughterhouses and slaughtering were regulated by the Slaughterhouses Act 1974. ¹ Hygiene in relation to the sale of food for human consumption and the importation, preparation, transport, storage, packaging wrapping, exposure for sale, service or delivery of food intended for sale or sold for human consumption was regulated by the Food Act 1984. ² Determination of whether meat was fit for human consumption and the treatment of unfit meat were regulated by the Meat Inspection Regulations 1963, the Slaughterhouses (Hygiene) Regulations 1977, the Fresh Meat Export (Hygiene and Inspection) Regulations 1981, ³ and the Meat (Sterilisation and Staining) Regulations 1982. ⁴ Parts I, II and IV of the Food Act 1984 were repealed by the Food Safety Act 1990.

3.5 Neither the 1974 Slaughterhouses Act nor the 1984 Food Act applied to Scotland or Northern Ireland, while the 1990 Food Safety Act did not apply to Northern Ireland. The equivalent legislation in Scotland is shown below:

Table 3.1:

3.6 The position in Northern Ireland was:

Table 3.2: