The BFI sourced its original DVD of Salo from an unsubtitled 35mm print that subsequently ended up in the BFI National Archive. As a result, when mastering it to HD for the Blu-ray and new SD-DVD it was relatively straightforward to telecine that print to HD and drop the scene in - the only...
This is just to confirm that the new BFI edition does feature the extra 25 seconds (sourced from a 35mm print as opposed to the original negative, so the picture quality changes slightly at that point) - but also that the Blu-Ray is definitely Region B.
OK, just to clear up some of the speculation: 1. The new BFI edition does indeed contain the missing scene, but the source was a 35mm print in the BFI National Archive, not the ropey original DVD edition. So while there's a shift in image quality (chiefly contrast), it's nowhere near as...
From what I hear, both the new Criterion and BFI editions are based on brand new transfers, so those comparisons are meaningless. I'm sure DVD Beaver will update them as soon as they get hold of the new versions.