UK food agency says don't eat Irish pork

[samanthajane13]

By Kate Kelland Kate Kelland – 15 mins ago

LONDON (Reuters) – Britain's Food Standards Agency warned consumers on Sunday not to eat pork from Ireland or Northern Ireland after Dublin ordered a recall of pigmeat due to contamination with potentially cancer-causing dioxins.

The FSA said it was investigating whether any contaminated pork or pork products had been distributed in the UK, which is a major importer of Irish pigmeat.

"The Food Standards Agency is today advising consumers not to eat pork or pork products, such as sausages, bacon, salami and ham, which are labeled as being from the Irish Republic or Northern Ireland," the FSA said on its website.

The Irish government said on Saturday that laboratory tests of animal feed and pork fat samples confirmed the presence of dioxins, with toxins at 80-200 times the safe limits. It ordered an immediate recall of all pork and pork products.

Ireland exported 368 million euros ($467 million) worth of pigmeat in 2007, half of it to Britain, but the FSA said it did not believe there was any "significant" risk.

"People shouldn't be too concerned," an FSA spokesman said. "It's not an immediate toxic risk. With dioxins it's a problem when you have exposure at high levels over a long period of time. We are only talking about a problem since September."

He said the FSA was waiting for information from Irish authorities on the UK end destinations of Irish pork products.

"From the information that we have at this time we do not believe there is significant risk to UK consumers," the FSA said.

The Irish Association of Pigmeat Processors said 10 farms had been using the tainted feed, responsible for less than 10 percent of Irish pigmeat production. It said the recall was a precautionary step.

Nine farms in Northern Ireland have used the contaminated pig feed, Ireland's Newstalk radio said on Sunday.

Experts said the risk was low.

"These compounds take a long time to accumulate in the body, so a relatively short period of exposure would have little impact on the total body burden," said Professor Alan Boobis, Toxicologist at Imperial College London.

"One would have to be exposed to high levels for a long period of time before there would be a health risk."

(Reporting by Kate Kelland; Editing by Elizabeth Piper)


http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20081207/ts_nm/us_britain_ireland_pork

[samanthajane13]

Tainted Irish pork may have reached 25 countries: official
by Andrew Bushe Andrew Bushe – 1 hr 9 mins ago



DUBLIN (AFP) – Contaminated Irish pig meat may have been exported to up to 25 countries, Ireland's chief vet said Sunday, as shops at home and abroad cleared pork from their shelves amid fears of a cancer link.

"We believe it's in the order of 20 to 25 countries. It's certainly less than 30," Paddy Rogan said in comments quoted by the Irish media.

His remarks came after ministers Saturday ordered all pig meat products from the Republic of Ireland to be withdrawn as dioxins, which may cause cancer, were found in slaughtered pigs thought to have eaten contaminated feed.

The recall involved products processed since September 1 and has caused panic in the Emerald Isle, where many families would have been buying their traditional Christmas ham in the coming days.

Ireland is a major exporter of pork, with Britain by far the biggest market followed by Germany, France, Russia and Japan. Other major export destinations include Hong Kong, China and the Netherlands.

Officials and police are investigating the possible source of the contaminated feed, a plant run by Millstream Power Recycling Limited near Fenagh, County Carlow in southwest Ireland.

David Curtin, a firm spokesman, said what was under investigation was oil used in machinery used to dry the recycled bread products and dough which are ingredients in the feed.

He denied that any oil or other substance had been added to the feed during processing.

Irish Prime Minister Brian Cowen stepped in to try and calm the situation, saying it was important his government took "whatever measures are necessary" to build confidence in the industry for the future.

"The problem has been located. The continuing examination and inquiries will proceed and we must take action to reinforce confidence to the public, and obviously also allow the industry to move on from this point," Cowen said.

The crisis is another blow to recession-hit Ireland, where about 5,000 people work in a pig meat industry which exported 129,000 tonnes worth 368 million euros (468 million dollars) in 2007, according to official figures.

Irish people are being told not to eat domestically-reared pork meat, bacon, pork sausages, sausage meat, gammon steaks, offal from pigs, salami, ham, sausage rolls, black pudding and white pudding.

Supermarket shelves have been cleared of Irish pork products while stockists in Britain, like retailer Waitrose, have also pulled them as officials advise consumers not to eat Irish or Northern Irish pork.

Germany said it was taking all Irish pork products off the shelves as a precautionary measure, while contaminated Irish pork has been found in France and Belgium.

Swedish authorities have also advised consumers to avoid products containing Irish pork until further notice.

The European Commission announced it was closely monitoring the situation, saying experts from countries that may have received tainted pork shipments would meet Tuesday.

Dioxins are toxic chemicals that can have serious health effects, including causing cancers, if there is long-term exposure to them at high levels.

Food Safety Authority of Ireland deputy chief executive Alan Reilly said dioxin levels found in meat samples were between 80 and 200 times above the legal limit but stressed the risk to the public was "very, very low".

"You would have to be eating products containing these chemicals for 40 years before you would show any signs of illness," he said.

Padraig Walshe, president of the Irish Farmers' Association, said the recall was an "absolute disaster" in the run-up to Christmas, adding the contamination could cost Irish farmers hundreds of millions of euros.

"It is going to be very difficult for the industry to get itself re-established and get customers to buy output again," Walshe told state broadcaster RTE. "It is a huge blow to the industry."

The contaminated feed was supplied to 10 Irish farms which supply roughly 10 percent of Ireland's pigs.

Nine farms in Northern Ireland have also used the contaminated feed.


http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20081207/ts_afp/irelandfoodsafety

[samanthajane13]

Irish won't halt beef sales despite dioxin scare
By SHAWN POGATCHNIK, Associated Press Writer Shawn Pogatchnik, Associated Press Writer – 2 hrs 30 mins ago



DUBLIN, Ireland – Irish officials confirmed Tuesday that cattle at three farms have tested positive for dioxin — the cancer-causing chemical that has contaminated its pork industry — but insisted the country's beef posed no real risk to health.

Ireland has already ordered the withdrawal and destruction of all pork products produced since Sept. 1, a sweeping move the government says should reinforce — not undermine — international confidence in Ireland's food exports.

But Agriculture Minister Brendan Smith said the government decided not to recall any Irish beef products at home or abroad because, unlike the contamination of pork products, the level and extent of dioxin found so far in cattle is much lower.

Smith said the cattle with excessive dioxin levels were "technically noncompliant, but not at a level that would pose any public health concern." Still, he said Ireland would prevent the movement of any cattle or beef from the three farms in question.

Alan Reilly, deputy director of the Food Safety Authority of Ireland, stressed that the dioxin levels found in the most contaminated cattle were just two to three times European Union safety limits, whereas pigs at nine dioxin-threatened Irish farms recorded dioxin levels 80 to 200 times too high.

"There's a huge difference between 200 times above a legal limit, and two to three times," Reilly said.

The government declined to say whether any cattle from the three farms had produced beef that went to foreign markets. Reilly said most of the beef produced since September was still in storage, being aged to improve its tenderness and taste.

A recall of Irish beef would do even greater damage to Ireland's recession-hit economy than its emergency shutdown Saturday of the pork industry. Ireland has 69,000 beef farms but just 400 pig farms.

Ireland exports 85 percent of its beef to about 35 other countries, chiefly in Europe, a trade valued at more than euro1.5 billion ($2.2 billion). Irish pork generates only a third as much money and reaches 25 other countries. In both cases, neighboring Britain is Ireland's major customer.

Irish investigators have traced the source of the contamination to a single animal-food maker, Millstream Power Recycling Ltd., which used an oil-fired burner to dry out-of-date bread, dough and confectionary.

The Agriculture Department says Millstream — which has been shut down pending investigations by the government and police — was using a kind of oil that should never be used around food, creating fumes that infused the food with dioxins. It also failed to get the appropriate oil-burning permit from the Irish Environmental Protection Agency.

Authorities say Millstream supplied oil-tainted feed to at least nine pig farms and 45 cattle farms in the Republic of Ireland, and nine pig farms and 10 cattle farms in the British territory of Northern Ireland.

Tuesday's test results that confirmed too-high levels of dioxin in cattle at three Irish farms also cleared eight others of contamination. The Irish government declined to specify when results on the 34 other cattle farms would be confirmed.

But Reilly said he expected the number of total positive results to be in similar proportion to Tuesday's findings. This would mean about a quarter, or nine, more cattle farms could test positive for excessive dioxin.

He noted the cattle ate much less of the Millstream product than the pigs, because cows still eat mostly grass in the fall while pigs rely on man-made fodder.

In Northern Ireland, meanwhile, authorities announced Tuesday that none of the pig farms that received the Millstream product actually used it, which means its pork products can return immediately to store shelves and export markets. But Northern Ireland's agriculture minister, Michelle Gildernew, said she was still awaiting test results later this week on the 10 suspect cattle farms.

International research shows that dioxins, a family of chemicals that can accumulate and be retained for years in body fat, can lead to an increased risk of cancer.

Irish authorities, however, point to Europe's last major dioxin scare — in Belgium in May 1999, when thousands of farms were closed after dioxin-contaminated animal feed tainted meat, eggs and dairy products — to show that short-term exposure should not pose a risk.

"We're dealing in broad terms with the same exposure levels as in Belgium, where the follow-up showed no impact on public health," said Ireland's chief medical officer, Dr. Tony Holoran.

He stressed that, even if anyone ate both the dioxin-tainted beef or pork daily for the past three months, it still wouldn't be enough to cause a health problem.

"The risks are extremely low from any exposure that may occur. People do not need to seek any direct medical advice. We do not expect to see symptoms occurring as a result of this," Holoran said.

(This version CORRECTS ADDS background on beef industry, source of Irish contamination and Europe's last dioxin scare in 1999, corrects spelling of surname to Reilly sted O'Reilly.)


http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20081209/ap_on_re_eu/eu_ireland_tainted_meat

[samanthajane13]

Irish food scare spreads to cattle
by Andrew Bushe Andrew Bushe – 1 hr 6 mins ago



DUBLIN (AFP) – Ireland's food scare crisis spread Tuesday as officials said cancer-linked chemicals had been found in cows as well as pigs, but insisted the risk to human health was minimal.

Farm minister Brendan Smith said only three cattle herds had shown illegal levels of dioxins, the substance which led to a domestic and international recall of Irish pork products at the weekend.

Officials said there would be no total recall of beef, Ireland's most important agricultural product which is worth 2.5 billion euros (3.2 billion dollars) annually.

"To all intents and purposes this is not a public health issue," Smith said, adding that the public risks "are extremely low".

"We do not expect to see symptoms occurring as a consequence in this," he told journalists in Dublin.

"The results show that eight out of the 11 herds are clear and three are above the proposed legislative limits" for the dioxins, which stemmed from contaminated animal feed, Smith said.

"This would make the samples technically non-compliant but not at a level that would pose any public health concern," he added.

The Irish government said any cows above the legal limit would be removed from the food and animal feed chain and any products from these animals would not be released into the market.

Dr. Alan Reilly of the Food Safety Authority of Ireland said that on the three farms that showed signs of dioxins "they were only two to three times above the limits".

In contrast, tests on pigs that had eaten the tainted feed were 80 to 200 times above the safe limits.

Reilly said in the case of the cows, "the adverse health effects for consumption over a short period of this type of elevated level is not going to adversely affect public health so we are not concerned."

The lower level of contamination in cows can be explained by the fact cattle are largely fed on grass, and because beef is often stored to age before being sold -- much of the meat produced during the scare would still be in storage.

"The products that we have in store from the farms that have tested positive and above this particular limit, that produce will not be allowed onto the market," Reilly said.

The three farms affected have been sealed off and all the cattle there will be tested.

Ireland sounded the alarm on Saturday, recalling all pork products made since September 1 after dioxins, which in high doses can cause cancer, were found in slaughtered pigs thought to have eaten tainted feed.

The European Commission said Monday that 12 EU states and nine other countries around the world including Japan and South Korea might have received contaminated pork or pig meat products.

With pig meat processors warning that 6,000 jobs are at risk in their industry as a result of the scare, Irish Prime Minister Brian Cowen told parliament Tuesday he wanted pork back on the market as soon as possible.

Cowen said the government had shown "zero tolerance" of any contaminated meat and Dublin was taking a three-pronged approach.

Pig or beef herds that had shown contamination would be destroyed, an EU risk analysis would be used to ensure a range of products are safe and marketable and then slaughtering and processing would be restored.

The European Commission confirmed on Tuesday that the source of the dioxin contamination was a plant in southeast Ireland which recycles bread and dough to make animal feed.

A spokesman for the EU farm commissioner said there was "no legal basis" for Brussels to compensate Irish farmers affected by the crisis, after Cowen said he would ask for European financial assistance.


http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20081209/wl_uk_afp/irelandfoodhealth