A Swindon MEP has added her voice to the latest BSE controversy.
Dr Caroline Jackson, whose Wiltshire constituency includes the town, fears Britain may be importing the fatal disease because of an inconsistency in the law.
She chairs the European Parliament's Health Committee, and has met the European Commissioner for Health, David Byrne, to discuss the issue.
Dr Jackson said: "I think is it downright dangerous that, while there is a ban on British beef from animals older than 30 months entering the food chain, no such ban exists on beef imported for processing.
"That means that it is possible for French beef from animals older than 30 months to end up in British beefburgers.
"This is unfair to our farmers and potentially lethal to British consumers who unwittingly eat foreign meat that may be unsafe.
"The commission should be seen to be even-handed, and I know the commissioner is keen to make sure that Europe's consumers have safe food."
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