Filed under: Business, On the Blogs, Europe, Meat

“Oh no! We’re running out of intestines!” That’s basically what the Swiss Meat Association is saying. The favorite sausage of Switzerland, the cervelat, is encased in cow’s intestines, preferably from Brazilian cows. And though Switzerland is not part of the EU, the country follows those rules when it comes to trade and food regulations. Turns out the EU has curbed imports of Brazilian cows/parts due to BSE (mad cow) fears.

Supplies of the intestines used to make the Swiss delicacy are projected to run out in the summer, just when football (soccer) fans from all over Europe arrive for the Euro 2008 Championship. A “Task Force Cervelat” has been put together with scientists, bureaucrats, and industry insiders in order to try to solve the problem. Everyone agrees it will take some time for the EU regulators to make any changes. The task force is even looking into getting cow intestines from other sources, though no one wants that.

Generally, about 160 million cervelat sausages get eaten in Switzerland each year. Unfortunately, if the Task Force Cervelat doesn’t come up with any answers, that number may be reduced this year. What will they eat at football games?

[Via ColdMud.com]

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This entry was posted on Thursday, January 17th, 2008 at 1:34 pm and is filed under Health. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.