Ireland recalls pork products
Ireland's Food Standards Agency fears that pigs have been given contaminated feed
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Sunday, 07, Dec 2008 07:33
All pork produced in the Republic of Ireland since September has been recalled over contamination fears.
The country's Food Standards Agency (FSA) said the feed given to pigs contained environmental contaminants called dioxins thus raising health concerns about the safety of the meat produced on Irish farms.
Ireland's food watchdog added that tests showed the products contained between 80 and 200 times the level of dioxins usually considered to be safe. The contaminated feed has been traced back to a single supplier whose customers include 47 farms, of which 38 produce beef.
Bacon, ham, sausages, white pudding and pizzas with ham toppings have been recalled from supermarket shelves in Ireland as a precautionary measure.
The UK's FSA said it was looking into whether Irish meat had been exported to the UK but stated that it did not believe UK customers faced a "significant risk".
The Irish Labour party spokesman on agriculture and food, Sean Sherlock, said: "We don't want to risk destroying an entire food industry if it can be proved that it can be contained to products that came from a specific number of processors, or contained within a particular geographic area.
"While the absolute priority in this matter should be the protection and safeguarding of the health and welfare of consumers, the government and the state agencies should take whatever action they can to save the Christmas pork and ham market.
"This announcement amounts to a threat to the overall viability of our food industry, as great as - if not greater than - the outbreaks of BSE and foot and mouth."