The Food (Meat Inspection) (Scotland) Regulations 1988

PART V Detailed Instructions

Sheep and Goats

1.  In the case of sheep and goats the inspection shall include in particular an examination of—

(a) the head after flaying with, if an inspector considers it necessary, the surface of the tongue, the mouth, throat, retro-pharyngeal and parotid lymph nodes (save that these examinations and the flaying are not required if the local authority ensures that the head, including the tongue and brains, is excluded from human consumption);

(b) the lungs, the trachea and oesophagus; if an inspector considers it necessary the trachea and the main branches of the bronchi shall be opened lengthwise and the lungs shall be incised in their posterior third, at right angles to their main axes; the bronchial and mediastinal lymph nodes shall be palpated and, if an inspector considers it necessary, examined in detail;

(c) the pericardium, which shall be opened, and the heart; where an inspector considers it necessary the heart shall be incised lengthwise so as to open the ventricles and to cut through the intra-ventricular septum;

(d) the diaphragm;

(e) the surfaces and substance of the liver which shall be incised on the gastric surface to examine the bile ducts; the hepatic lymph nodes shall be examined and palpated;

(f) the alimentary tract and the mesentery; the gastric, pancreatic and mesenteric lymph nodes shall be examined;

(g) the surface of the spleen;

(h) the kidneys which, if an inspector considers it necessary, shall be incised and the renal lymph nodes examined in detail;

(i) the pleura and the peritoneum;

(j) the genital organs;

(k) the udder; the supramammary lymph nodes shall be examined;

(l) the umbilical region and the joints of young animals which shall be palpated; where an inspector considers it necessary the umbilical region shall be incised and the joints shall be opened;

(m) the feet, if an inspector considers it necessary.

2.  Where an inspector has reason to suspect that a suppurative condition exists in the carcase of any sheep or lamb he shall—

(a) examine by palpation as well as by observation such of the lymph nodes as are readily accessible; and

(b) in the case of a sheep, examine in detail such of the following lymph nodes as he has not already so examined: prescapular, superficial inguinal, precrural; and, in the case of a lamb, examine in detail such lymph nodes if he has found evidence of disease in the course of visual examination or palpation.

3.  Where evidence of tuberculosis is found, an inspector shall split the carcase, examine the vertebrae, ribs, sternum, spinal cord and brain, expose and incise the kidneys.