Brussels, 08/12/2008 (Agence Europe) -Irish pork meat which has been contaminated with dioxin via animal feed supplied to 10 pork farms has been exported to between 20 and 25 countries, including 12 Member States of the EU: Italy, Germany, the Netherlands, Sweden, Belgium, Poland, Denmark, Portugal, Cyprus, France, the United Kingdom and Estonia. Androulla Vassiliou, the European Commission of the Health, confirmed this before the press on Monday 8 December, adding that the recall measures taken by Ireland for all suspected products were "satisfactory". Furthermore, all of European countries in question had been called upon to "block and control pork meat and derivative products of Irish origin" to test for any presence of PCB and dioxin. The controls will also target a number of beef farms, "but no dairy farms have been targeted", the Commissioner added. Although the situation appears to be under control, "investigations are continuing".
From the afternoon of 8 December, the Commission had decided to hold a meeting with the experts of the Member States in question to hold an exchange of information and promote a harmonised approach to their measures to guarantee a high level of protection for human health, as laid down by the Treaties. The meeting has also been arranged with the third countries which have taken delivery of contaminated Irish meat. On Wednesday 10 December, the Chief Veterinary Officers of the Member States will meet, ahead of a meeting of the Standing Committee on the Food Chain and Animal Health in Brussels, announced Ms Vassiliou.
She explained that "the Commission is satisfied with the measures taken by the Irish authorities and, for the time being, it does not feel that additional measures are needed, but it is following the situation with the greatest attention and will regularly report back on recent developments".
The contamination incident was revealed during a routine food chain test carried out by the Irish authorities, which flagged up the presence of PCB in the pork meat, at levels indicating an unacceptable level of dioxin contamination.
On 7 December, scientific investigations confirmed that the levels of dioxin were 100 times higher than the maximum amount authorised within the EU (1 picogram/gram for dioxins and 1.5 picograms/gram of fat for the cumulative total of dioxins and dioxin-type PCB).
"Although short-term exposure to excessive levels of dioxins and PCBs do not have any harmful effects on human health, the Commission is convinced that measures must be taken to withdraw highly contaminated products from the food chain, in order to bring human exposure to the lowest possible levels", Ms Vassiliou stated. She went on to explain that the matter had been referred to the EFSA (European Food Safety Authority) "to give its urgent opinion on the risks to human health".
As it has not been possible to trace the contaminated Irish pork meat and derivative products back as far as the farm, the Irish authorities took the precautionary measure of withdrawing all products made
from pigs slaughtered since 1 September from the market, even though only 10% of Irish production
was contaminated. The date of 1 September was decided upon because tests showed that it was on this
date that a producer of gelatine made from abattoir waste had put products containing animal fats onto
the market. (A.N./trans.fl)