Irish foods continue to be free of banned substances
The department said that the results indicate the absence of banned growth-promoting hormones and other illegal substances in food-producing animals in Ireland.
The small number of positives detected were residues of authorised medicines.
The European Commission-approved NRCP is an important component of Ireland’s food-safety controls.
It is implemented under a service contract with the Food Safety Authority of Ireland (FSAI).
The results, released yesterday, show that the rate of positives remains low at 0.2% of all samples tested, across all eight food-producing species, as well as milk, eggs and honey.
Some 42 (0.2%) out of 19,095 tested positive, which confirms absence of residues in Irish food products.
The department said this is comparable with the levels (0.2%) detected in 2013, 2012 and 2011.
These consistently low levels reflect the responsible approach adopted by the vast majority of farmers.
