The production and sales of skin-on sheep carcases is being driven underground because the Food Standards Agency (FSA) has taken so long to come up with a legal process for it.

That's the view of a 'skin-on sheep' working group, chaired by the National Sheep Association, which shared a dossier with the FSA two years ago. This had set out proposals to create a legal market.

But since then, the authorities have dragged their heels in assessing whether the evidence provided triggers further scientific investigation and study.

The skin-on products – also known as ‘smokies’ – are a West African delicacy which involves burning the hair and wool off a shorn ewe or goat carcase and leaving the skin attached to the meat. This gives the meat a unique flavour when cooked and it is popular in many English cities. The NSA estimated this market could use up to 100,000 cull ewes per year in the UK.

But, despite the demand, they remain illegal to produce or even import due to inspection regulations following the slaughter process. According to Phil Stocker, CEO of the NSA: “As a result, the UK suffers from illegal imports and illegal preparation of skin-on sheep to satisfy demand and the knock-on effect is a risk to human health due to an absence of declarations over medicine use and withdrawal periods, risks to sheep welfare due to illegal slaughtering, and sheep thefts because the products are not available legally.”

In 2019, a Welsh farmer was sentenced to eight months in prison and fined £30,000 for producing ‘smokies’.

When The Scottish Farmer contacted the FSA, it said: “The European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) found that previous studies undertaken in the UK to investigate the development of a process for the production of skin-on sheep meat were insufficient to conclude that the product was suitable for human consumption. This was due to them not considering all potential biological and chemical hazards associated with the process.”

However, both FSA and the Food Standards Scotland are still considering the current proposals in the skin-on working group’s dossier from 2020. They are yet to conclude if the evidence provided in the report on safety is enough to trigger a wider ‘risk analysis process’.

Mr Stocker said he was disappointed with the pace of progress but is still holding out that ‘FSA will understand common sense in due course’.

He added: “The thing they fail to recognise is that in going for 100% cast iron assurance of the safety of properly regulated 'smokies' production, they force the communities wanting these products into sourcing non-regulated alternatives and don’t seem worried about the effect on consumers.

"But then this is all about protecting their own backs as regulators, rather than really doing something to protect peoples’ health – so maybe we shouldn’t be surprised.

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“The industry proposal includes protocols that would allow an increasing body of evidence to be built up over time with the costs of enhanced surveillance being absorbed by industry, and any suggestion that detailed scientific evidence is collected in advance of legalisation just means that the status quo will continue with consumers health put at risk,” he added.

The frustration is echoed by the NFU in England, who said: “The legal production of skin on sheep in approved UK abattoirs for certain communities would be a valuable market for UK producers. The NFU along with other industry organisations agreed a protocol to produce smokies with the FSA back in 2020.

"The FSA have delayed progress and the industry is still waiting for the risk assessment. This is required before recommendations can be put to ministers.”