Brussels, 22/06/2012 (Agence Europe) - The EU Standing Committee on the Food Chain and Animal Health has delayed until July its planned vote on re-introducing processed animal protein (animal meal) from non-ruminants into fish food. The European Commission sees this re-introduction as a first step towards lifting the ban on animal meal in non-ruminant feeds (pigs, poultry).
It proved impossible to reach a majority at the standing committee meeting in Brussels on 18 June. France and the United Kingdom - the two countries most affected by mad cow disease - are the most fervent opponents of re-introduction of these products. Germany would be prepared to accept it but wants assurances on the reliability of testing methods and how they are to be implemented. Another issue on which the vote had to be postponed at the meeting was authorisation of the use of lactic acid, a food additive (E270), used in the United States, mainly as a preservative for meat, but not yet authorised for use in Europe. (LC/transl.rt)