British doctors tough on meat regulations

The British doctors' organisation, the BMA, is recommending that all raw meat in Britain should be treated as contaminated and a potential source of food poisoning.

In evidence to a parliamentary inquiry, the BMA said that strict precautions must always be taken in the handling and cooking of meat.

In a BBC interview, the BMA Chairman Sandy Macara said that despite the warning, British meat was probably the safest in the world because of tougher standards introduced following the scare over BSE or 'mad cow's disease'.

As a result of the scare, the government is due to issue proposals in a few days for a new independent food standards agency.

From the newsroom of the BBC World Service