THE FIRST REAL BISTECCA FIORENTINA SOLD. BANNED CUT RETURNS TO MARKETS

After the customary ten day hanging period for a butchered steer had passed, the first authentic bistecca fiorentina was sold in mid January to consumers eagerly awaiting the return of the real Florentine style steak.
The national food and agriculture group Coldiretti announced that the first sale of the previously outlawed bistecca fiorentina was made at the Cooperativa Agricola di Firenzuola (Florence), adjacent to the Centro Carni (Meat Center) for the Mugello area of Tuscany.
The loin from which it was cut – noted Coldiretti – came from the first steer slaughtered in Italy after the new EU norms in regards to BSE (Mad Cow Disease) went into effect, ending the 4 year, 9 month ban on the cut that included the prohibited backbone.
A period of “abstinence” – continued Coldiretti – that began with the decree by the Agricultural Council of Ministers decision on 29 January 2001 to eliminate the backbone from slaughtered steers over 12 months old in an attempt to confront the Mad Cow Disease epidemic, thus condemning the Florentine cut since 31 March 2001.
The true bistecca fiorentina – reports Coldiretti – is in fact cut from a steer no less than 15 months old, has the “T” bone in the middle, the filet on one side and the sirloin on the other, and its thickness must be no less than 3 and no more than 4.5 centimeters.
The return of the bistecca fiorentina – sustains Coldiretti – recognizes those breeders who have invested in the quality, genuine character and safety of their products, which resulted in the drastic reduction of BSE: in over 800,000 animals tested, the number of cases dropped from 50 registered in 2001 to 7 in 2005.
These results also demonstrate the efficacy of the measures that were adopted during the BSE emergency, such as the ban on the use of animal based products in bovine feed, mandatory tests on all cattle more than 24 months old, and on all diseased animals: those elements most at risk of being contaminated with BSE in the food production chain. But, above all, the most important change was the introduction on 1 January 2002 of a mandatory labeling system that now provides information on the origin of the meat purchased, the animal’s place of birth, where it was raised, where it was slaughtered, and even an identification number all noted on the package.