Mackie's of Scotland forced to change crisp recipe before US launch over fears of mad cow disease

US health officials have banned Scottish crisps over fears of mad cow disease. Mackie's have been forced to change the recipe for their beef flavoured crisps before they are launched in the States. The family-run firm were set to begin a massive export drive across the Atlantic but had to act because of America's 15-year-old ban on importing British beef.

The legislation came into force in 1996 amid fears meat infected with BSE could cause the fatal brain condition Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease. Mackie's were ordered to remove all traces of beef from their award-winning Aberdeen Angus crisps before they could be sold across the Atlantic.



Managing director Kirstin Mackie said: "It is something we never even thought about as the BSE outbreak was so long ago. We have stringent regulations here to ensure the highest quality and safety. America is the only country to ban the beef used in our crisps.

"It is one of our top-selling flavours and in order to crack the US market, the toughest and one of the most lucrative for crisps, we had to change our recipe to beef-free." The company will now produce a vegetarian version of the snack for America, which will be steak flavoured but will not contain any actual meat. The company, who will start selling their snacks across the US within weeks, expect to shift two million bags there in the next year.