BSE information distributed around shops

Information about the state of the BSE crisis is being distributed to butchers and supermarkets throughout Ireland.

Customers can pick up a special booklet, backed by the Food Safety Authority and the Department of Agriculture, designed to allay fears about the safety of beef.

The industry watchdog Agri-Aware said it is satisfied that the only home-produced beef on sale is from cattle which have never eaten meat and bone meal.

Their chairman John McCullen said," If you trust your own butcher, if you trust Tesco or Super Valu or whatever, you can be 100% sure that what you get is safe. All the bits that contain central nervous system tissue are removed before they get anywhere near anyone. The system is quite foolproof."