Aged Irish beef gets the chop: "SOFIA (Reuters) - Twenty-year-old Irish beef which may have been making its way to the processed food industry has been impounded in Bulgaria, which is toughening up food safety standards under pressure from the European Union.

Three truckloads containing 75 tonnes of the discoloured meat was blocked at Bulgaria's southwest border with Greece last month because its papers were suspect.

'The Irish veterinary service has confirmed the beef is around 20 years old,' Agriculture Ministry spokeswoman Margarita Kozhuharova said on Friday.

Bulgarian media have reported that meat producers import old meat to use in salami and other processed food.

However, the bluish-purple-tinged beef is unlikely to find its way to the dinner table, processed or otherwise. The Agriculture Ministry said it would probably burn it."