Contaminated Irish pork still in circulation after find in China

THE Department of Agriculture has admitted there are still consignments of contaminated Irish pork in circulation around the globe which it has not yet traced.

The confirmation was given after 23 tonnes of frozen Irish pork found to be contaminated with dioxins was uncovered in China yesterday.

The discovery came just days after the Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture and Food heard that the delay in the recall of product from abroad was causing huge problems to primary and secondary processors which manufactured pork products.

China had banned the import of Irish pork following last month’s PCB dioxin scare here which saw thousands of pigs slaughtered and shelves cleared of pork products.

The levels of contaminants were very high, between 80 and 200 times the recommended safety limit. The dioxins had been given to the pigs through animal feed.

Despite the high levels found, the Food Safety Authority said at the time that a person would have to be exposed to such levels of contamination for many years before it posed a risk to health.

Nevertheless, the Government started recalling Irish pork from up to 25 other countries immediately following the scare.

However, yesterday, Chinese state media confirmed the 23 tonnes of frozen meat, which was stored in 937 cases, had been discovered in the eastern city of Nanjing.

The meat had been imported by a firm in the city of Suzhou in October. Chinese inspectors sealed the pork and ordered the firm to send it back.

Last night, a Department of Agriculture spokesman said: “There will still be some contaminated pork turning up here and there. We are still in the process of recalling the meat so this is bound to still be happening. There are some consignments in other countries [which have still not been recalled].”

Last week it was confirmed that Irish pork was still banned from China, Hong Kong, South Korea, Singapore, South Africa and Russia.

China has been dogged by food safety scandals in recent years, most notoriously the mass contamination of infant formula which saw six babies die and thousands more become seriously ill. Two have been sentenced to death for that contamination and others have been given life sentences.