Knacker industry blamed for ongoing beef ban

18 July 1997

Knacker industry blamed for ongoing beef ban

RENDERERS claim the EU beef export ban will not be lifted unless the UK decides to stop using knackerman to dispose of fallen stock.

Brian Rogers, chairman of the UK renderers association said the UK knackering industry was a source of amazement to our European colleagues.

It is antiquated and unsafe because there is a risk that unwanted meat can get into the human food chain, Mr Rogers said.

The system cannot go on, and I believe there is no prospect of getting the beef ban lifted so long as fallen stock are handled in this way, he added.

On the Continent fallen stock must be sent directly to dedicated rendering plants. In the UK they are collected by knackermen, or buried on the farm.

But Mr Rogers said only about half the expected number of fallen stock each year in the UK were handled by renderers, with the rest presumably buried on farms.

And the numbers of carcasses being buried on farms could increase in the coming months because of the governments decision to axe rendering support payments from March 1 next year.