Smith believes swift response will aid recovery

AGRICULTURE Minister Brendan Smith has admitted the discovery of dioxins in Irish pigs was damaging, but was confident a swift response would help restore faith in the farming industry.

Mr Smith last night said he had spent the day meeting experts and a large delegation from the retail sector on the impact of the recall of all pork products.

He said the “immediate and decisive” response by the Irish agencies had been hailed by the European Commission and was necessary to show other markets pork was safe.

Mr Smith promised the public could have complete faith in the safety of pork when it arrives back onto the shelves later this week.

To allay fears his department spent the weekend outlining the precise nature of the outbreak and the extent of efforts to contain it.

It established that 47 farms in southern Ireland had received feed from Millstream Recycling in Wexford, where from mid-September recycled feed became contaminated with dioxins.

Thirty-eight of the farms involved beef. Beef was not the primary concern because grass, rather than feed, was their main diet. It has also pinpointed when the dioxins first entered the supply chain. Results from rendering fat exported to Europe revealed this most likely began entering the system in mid-September.

The Department of Agriculture said contaminated animals have been shipped to more than 25 countries.

These countries are now receiving continuous updates through the European rapid response network.

For the wider public the Food Safety Authority established a helpline which had more than 2,000 calls in its first 24 hours.

The FSA said the public’s chief worry was the effect the contamination might have.

On this topic, a EU technical group has advised an ad-hoc group established by the Department of Health’s chief medical officer Dr Tony Holohan.

Yesterday this group received a full report on a similar discovery in Belgium in 1999.

Philip Crowley from the Department of Health said he spoke with Belgian expert Dr Gert de Poorter who said the public health studies carried out since the outbreak in his country failed to uncover any lingering damage.

However, the departments and the FSA have faced questions on the rigorousness of their testing regime.

The positive results in the Irish animals only emerged later than tests taken in Dutch animals which revealed the same poisons.

However, the Dutch scientists were unable to trace the origins of the contamination until the FSA released a European-wide notice on Thursday night.

The positive tests were also taken from routine animal samples under the national monitoring programme and not directly from the source of the contamination at Millstream Recycling.

Dermot Ryan, a senior inspector at the Department of Agriculture, said the Irish system for inspecting feeds had been audited in May and conformed to the highest standards.

He said each year inspectors carry out 2,200 visits and take 1,800 samples and the system was robust.

Mr Smith stressed it was the Irish checks which had raised this alarm and this proved food was being monitored effectively.

Regarding the source of the dioxin, the Department said, while investigations were ongoing, it was now satisfied it resulted from industrial oil, unsuitable for human consumption becoming involved in the cooking of recycled food stuff.

Millstream Recycling is owned by the Hogg Family in Bunclody, Co Wexford.

It recycles normal food for animal feed, using out-of-date or damaged food not fit for human consumption, but suitable for pigs and other animals.

Its feed was supplied to 10 pig farms from a possible of 400 in Ireland and to nine more in Northern Ireland.

The Belfast authorities have been in constant contact with the Irish Government since the European-wide notice was issued.

On both sides of the border officials have said the vast majority of recalled meat is considered safe.

But chief veterinary officer Paddy Rogan said it was not practical to issue a partial recall.