DIOXIN CONTAMINATION, PIG MEAT – IRELAND, EUROPE (02)
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International Society for Infectious Diseases <http://www.isid.org>
[1]
Date: Mon 8 Dec 2008
Source: The Irish Times [edited]
<http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/frontpage/2008/1208/1228571632070_pf.html>
EUR 125m [USD 160.3m] of pork to be destroyed in biggest food scare since BSE
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An estimated 100 000 pigs will have to be destroyed because of the pig meat crisis, which has led to the recall of all Irish pork products in Ireland’s largest food scare since BSE [bovine spongiform encephalitis]. The public has been told to dump or return all pork products, which they purchased since 1 Sep 2008 because of the risk of dioxin contamination. It is estimated that EUR 125 million [USD 160.3 million] worth of food products in home and in export markets — up to 25 countries — will have to be destroyed.
The recall followed the discovery of potentially dangerous dioxins in pig meat. They were initially traced in an unnamed meat plant in the Republic.
The dioxins were contained in feed supplied from a Co Carlow food recycling plant, it emerged yesterday [7 Dec 2008].
As the Government moved to ease the fears of consumers, investigations continued at 10 pig farms and 38 beef farms in the Republic. The contamination is likely to have a severe impact on the EUR 7 billion (about USD 9 million) Irish food industry.
It emerged yesterday [7 Dec 2008] [that] contaminated feed from the Co Carlow facility, Millstream Recycling in Clohamon Mills, had also been supplied to 9 farms in Northern Ireland, which now have been restricted.
The investigation has found contaminated pork with dioxin levels of 80 to 200 times above the safety limits. It is being led by the Departments of Agriculture and Health, and the Food Safety Authority of Ireland (FSAI).
The Garda Siochana [Irish police force] are also involved.
The dramatic food recall was announced on Saturday night [6 Dec 2008] as the investigation into the source of the contamination, understood to be oil, was stepped up after tests at a UK laboratory in York confirmed the presence of dioxins in the pig meat.
The crisis began, however, last month [November 2008] when a routine sample was taken from the meat plant. Results of further tests from cattle farms will be known later today [8 Dec 2008]. Other examination of Irish products in the Netherlands, France, and Belgium prompted the action by the government in an attempt to protect consumer confidence at home and abroad.
The European Commission has called a meeting of food safety experts from Ireland and other affected EU states tomorrow to coordinate a Europe-wide response to the contamination of Irish pork products.
Millstream Recycling has confirmed it has been working with Department of Agriculture officials to identify the source of PCBs [polychlorinated biphenyls; related to but not synomymous with dioxins. - Mod.SH] found in pig meal used in a number of farms in Ireland. Accepting the need for a recall, Millstream Recycling said it would be carrying out “a full investigation to establish how the company’s strict health and safety procedures and the high quality standards could possibly have been breached.”
Last night [7 Dec 2008] the FSAI repeated its advice to consumers not to eat any pork products. But it said people should not be alarmed or concerned in relation to the potential risks from short-term exposure to dioxins found in pork products.
Dr Tony Holohan, chief medical officer at the Department of Health, said a number of health studies conducted in Belgium since the dioxin scare in
1999 had not found any negative effects on the population. “From the experience in Belgium we don’t anticipate any health effects and on that basis we are reassuring people.”
Prof James Heffron, a specialist on the biochemistry of detoxification at UCC’s [University College Cork] biochemical toxicology lab, told The Irish Times, however, the Government in his view needed to do more to reassure the public. Prof Heffron said information on the amount of dioxin found in affected meat should be released in addition to further details on the duration of exposure. “When we have this information we can relate it to World Health Organization (WHO) guidelines on acceptable levels of dioxin,”
he added.
The recall led to almost 2000 calls to the FSAI helpline yesterday [7 Dec 2008]. Queues formed at supermarkets as shoppers returned products for which the Government said they should receive a refund. The National Consumer Agency (NCA) said consumers were entitled to be refunded. NCA chief executive Anne Fitzgerald said: “Under legislation consumers are entitled to repair, replacement, or refund of a faulty product. In the case of pork meat or other food products containing pork, consumers are entitled to a refund as a repair or replacement does not apply in this instance.
The Convenience Stores and Newsagents Association called on the Government to provide an emergency compensation package so that retailers and suppliers would not be left out of pocket.
[byline: Sean MacConnel, Alison Healy]
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[2]
Date: Mon 8 Dec 2008
Source: European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) press release [edited] <http://www.efsa.europa.eu/EFSA/efsa_locale-1178620753812_1211902208283.htm>
EFSA to provide scientific assistance on dioxins in Irish pig meat
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EFSA received a request from the European Commission on 8 Dec 2008 for urgent scientific and technical assistance following the discovery of contamination by dioxins in pig meat from 10 farms in Ireland.
The Commission’s DG Health and Consumers asked EFSA to provide scientific assistance on the risks for human health related to the possible presence of dioxins in pig meat and pig meat products from Ireland and the presence of possibly contaminated processed pig meat products from Ireland in composite foods.
EFSA aims to publish its response by Wed 10 Dec 2008.
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[3]
Date: Mon 8 Dec 2008
Source: The Times (UK) [edited]
<http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/ireland/article5304309.ece>
Shops rush to take Irish pork off shelves
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Contaminated Irish pork may have reached markets in as many as 25 countries, it was feared last night [7 Dec 2008], as consumers were warned not to eat pork products from the island.
Supermarkets and shops were withdrawing all pork products yesterday [7 Dec 2008] that were known to have been made in the Republic or Northern Ireland since 1 Sep 2008, after dioxins were found in slaughtered pigs thought to have eaten contaminated feed. Investigations revealed that the suspect feed had been used in at least 56 farms, including 9 in Northern Ireland.
Just over 8 per cent of Britain’s pig meat imports, 51 700 tonnes in the first 9 months of the year [2008], comes from the Republic of Ireland.
The Food Standards Agency [FSA] admitted that meat from the affected farms could have found its way into pork products sold in Britain and marked as made in Britain or the EU. A spokesman said that it would have been “disproportionate and unacceptable” to tell consumers not to eat these products.
It is due to hold an emergency meeting in London today [8 Dec 2008] in an attempt to identify the products at risk. Retailers sought to reassure consumers, saying that the vast majority of fresh pork, gammon steaks, and bacon on sale in Britain is thought to be unaffected.
Tesco has checked the origin of all meats in its supermarkets and sells no fresh Irish pork. Sainsburys said that it did not use Irish pork. Waitrose said that as a precaution it had withdrawn 2 lines of sausages sold under the Northern Irish celebrity chef Paul Rankin’s brand. In Ireland all pork products have been withdrawn from shops and consumers were urged to destroy their supplies at home.
The company under investigation for being the source of the contaminated feed was named last night [7 Dec 2008] as Millstream Power Recycling, of Fenagh, County Carlow. A spokesman for the company said officials were testing oil that had been put in a machine used to dry animal feed.
Paddy Rogan, the Republic’s chief veterinary officer, said that contaminated pig meat may have reached 20 to 25 other countries.
Tests on the slaughtered Irish pigs showed that some pork products contained up to 200 times more dioxins than the safety limit, although the food safety expert Professor Hugh Pennington said that the risk to humans was very low. Dioxins, which are linked to cancer, are a human health risk only if a person is exposed for 30 to 40 years.
The FSA said: “We do not believe there is significant risk to UK consumers as adverse health effects from eating the affected products are only likely if people are exposed to relatively high levels of this contaminant for long periods.” When pressed on whether Northern Irish meat could be on sale in Britain marked as made in the UK or EU, a spokesman said: “It would be disproportionate and unacceptable to tell people they should not eat pork, bacon or ham labelled as produce of the UK and EU.”
Alan Reilly, the chief executive of the Food Safety Authority of Ireland, said that investigations were still under way into how the contamination got into the animal feed and that culling of animals was likely in order to remove them from the food chain.
The authority confirmed that a problem pork sample was identified on 19 Nov
2008 during routine testing. It was not until late Saturday [6 Dec 2008] afternoon that analysis by the Central Science Laboratory in York showed the precise level of dioxin contamination.
Trevor Sargent, the Irish food minister, said that surplus baking byproducts were often dried for animal feed. The fuel used should be a food-grade oil. “We do have our suspicions this time that the oil being used was not food grade,” he said.
Mr Reilly said that the likeliest source of contamination was “industrial oil or industrial contaminant.” Rhodri Evans, FSAI chief toxicology specialist, said that oil was the most probable cause and that it was possibly diesel.
A spokesman at the Millstream Power Recycling plant said that the company had always prided itself on strict quality standards. He added: “Accepting the need for a recall, Millstream will be carrying out a full investigation to establish how the company’s strict health and safety procedures and the high quality standards could possibly have been breached.”
[byline: Valerie Elliott, David Sharrock]
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[see also:
Dioxin contamination, pig meat - Ireland, Europe 20081207.3842 Dioxin, buffalo mozzarella cheese - Italy: (Campania) 20080327.1146
2006
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Dioxin, animal feed - Belgium (02) 20060206.0390 Dioxin, animal feed - Belgium 20060130.0303
2004
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Dioxin, feed contamination - Netherlands (02): exported 20041110.3042 Dioxin, feed contamination - Netherlands 20041106.3009
2003
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Dioxin, feed contamination - Germany (Thuringia) 20030210.0363
2001
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Dioxin food levels, WHO statement 20010108.0065 2000
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Dioxin contamination, fish - Europe 20001218.2213
1999
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Dioxin in meat, poultry, eggs banned again - Belgium 19991109.2006 Dioxin & PCB contam., food - Belgium: update 19990729.1281 Dioxin in meat, poultry & eggs - Belgium (06) 19990630.1101 Dioxin food contamination, international response (06) 19990617.1032 Dioxin poultry ban lifted - Belgium (02) 19990613.1011 Dioxin & PCB contamination of food - Germany 19990613.1010
Dioxin: websites available 19990611.1002 Dioxin food contamination, international response (05) 19990611.1001 Dioxin & PCB contamination of food - Belgium 19990610.0999 Dioxin poultry ban lifted - Belgium 19990609.0989 Dioxin food contamination, international response (04) 19990609.0987 Dioxin health assessments (02) 19990609.0986 Dioxin food contamination, international response (03) 19990609.0980 Dioxin in meat, poultry & eggs - Belgium (04) 19990608.0978 Dioxin contamination of meat: USA response (02) 19990607.0967 Dioxin food contamination, international response (02) 19990607.0966 Dioxin contamination of meat: USA response 19990605.0941 Dioxin food contamination, international response 19990604.0930 Dioxin health assessments 19990604.0929 Dioxin contamination, pigs - Belgium 19990604.0928 Dioxin, chicken & eggs contaminated - Belgium 19990531.0913]
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