Ananova:

France has banned T-bone steaks in response to fears over mad cow disease.

The use of meat and bone meal in animal feed has also been banned under moves announced by the French government.

Prime Minister Lionel Jospin said the bans are an additional precautionary step before the national food safety agency reports on the crisis. Other measures include random tests on cattle entering slaughterhouses and more funds for research into mad cow disease.

Fears of mad cow disease have surged in France as more cows contract the disease. Numerous school districts have taken beef off cafeteria menus.

According to a poll this weekend by the Ifop agency for Le Journal du Dimanche newspaper, 70% of French consumers are worried about animal-based feeds, and nearly 80% wanted an immediate ban on them.

Only two people are known to have died in France from the human variant of the disease, vCJD, compared to 81 in Britain.

But public concern in France has rocketed since it was revealed last month that potentially infected meat had made it to supermarket shelves.

The number of cows found to be suffering from the deadly disease has jumped to more than 80 this year compared to 31 for the whole of last year, as more aggressive and systematic testing of French herds is carried out.