Irish cattle consumed dioxin-contaminated feed
The Food Safety Authority of Ireland (FSAI), is in consultation with the Irish Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food (DAFF), after it confirmed that tests carried out on four beef samples identified dioxin contamination at higher levels than those found in pork products.
The DAFF said that 21 out of 120,000 cattle farms in Ireland have been identified as receiving the implicated animal feed. As a precautionary measure, the FSAI is recommending to DAFF that cattle from these 21 farms should now be slaughtered and not allowed to enter the food chain.Initially, 52 farms were identified as potentially having received contaminated feed, according to FSAI: “But it is now confirmed that only 21 farms actually took possession of this feed.”
This comes after the Food Standards Agency (FSA) announced that the dioxins identified in the Irish pork scare entered product, as a result of a contaminated ingredient in animal feed
The FSA has reassured consumers about eating Irish beef following the Republic of Ireland’s withdrawal of beef coming from cattle that have been exposed to feed contaminated with dioxins, and has said that the risk of it getting into the UK’s supply chain is very low.
The FSA said that the UK will continue to work with local authorities, the wider enforcement community and EU member states to protect UK consumers.
The National Farmers’ Union chief livestock adviser John Mercer added: “All meat in the UK food chain is subject to stringent safety controls and poses no risk to public health.
“This problem dates back to a disease outbreak that is now more than 20 years old. Since the late 1980s there have been core public safety measures in place that are applied to all bovine meat entering the food chain. The controls are based on best practice scientific knowledge and designed to remove the risk of BSE.”
