Sheep pose no BSE risk, says scientific committee
The EU's Scientific steering committee has decided that sheep casings should not be included in the list of specified risk materials in relation to BSE (bovine spongiform encephalitis). The committee postponed a decision on sheep casings until further data and risk assessment results became available. Having examined the new information, the committee concluded that there was no additional or new evidence justifying the inclusion of sheep casings in the list of specified risk materials. The committee concluded that there is no evidence that BSE is present in small ruminants under field conditions, and there is no indication that this could happen in the future. The committee did however note that if any evidence is found indicating that BSE is or could be present in sheep, the whole approach towards specified risk materials in small ruminants should be revised.