The discovery of spinal cord in carcasses exported to the North from four meat factories in the Republic led to a suspension of their slaughtering operations for one to three days, it was confirmed yesterday.
The spinal cord, which should have been removed under the strict BSE regulations which designates it as "specified risk material", was found in the North in beef which came from the Republic for further processing for the British market.
Complaints about the material were made to the authorities here and this led, according to the Department of Agriculture, to the suspension of export licences at the four plants for periods of between one and three days.
According to Dr Patrick Wall, chief executive of the Food Safety Authority of Ireland, small quantities of the cord were found in carcasses on four occasions since February of last year.
"When the spinal cord was detected, the carcasses were destroyed. These particular carcasses posed no risk to public health but the risk material should have been detected at an earlier stage of the control inspection system," he said.
He said since the incidents occurred repeat inspections at the plants have shown no further breaches.
A Department spokesman said the incidents had happened because of human error.