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Health

Super-sensitive BSE tests may not make meat safer

By Debora Mackenzie

16 January 2008

Europe is winning the battle against BSE, eight years after it exploded across the continent. The ban on feeding meat and bonemeal to animals has halted the spread of infection, and last year a mere 49 animals tested positive at slaughter in the UK. Now the European Commission wants to ease up on controls and the number of cattle undergoing expensive tests. Will this put people at risk?

ProMetic, a Canadian company that has developed a super-sensitive BSE test, argues that we must impose the most stringent tests possible on cattle because we know so little about the disease. A…

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