FSA knew of meat trader last October

The Food Safety Authority of Ireland has confirmed it was acting on concerns about the meat trader at the centre of the horse DNA scandal as early as October.

However, it said it could not reveal what this action involved because of the ongoing investigation by Department of Agriculture, assisted by the Garda National Bureau of Criminal Investigation.

The FSAI was told about the detainment of meat, stored in Newry, after it was first locked up in September. It was also told the meat, which had been fraudulently labelled, had been stored by a trader based in Monaghan and was destined for production in the Republic.

The detainment was not connected to the FSAI’s DNA testing, although both independent inquiries have arrived back at the same source — McAdams Food Services in Monaghan.

Subsequent DNA testing on the Newry consignment was carried out in late January, at the request of the FSAI, and showed up to 80% horsemeat in some boxes.

Unsuccessful attempts had been made by the Food Standards Agency in the North to trace its origins through the Monaghan trader who imported it, McAdams Food Services, the English trader who handled it, and the original Polish suppliers.

The FSAI said it was not in a position to comment on how meat from the same trader ended up on the production line at Rangeland Foods in January, four months after concerns were raised in Newry. Product used in the Rangeland batch was found to contain up to 75% horsemeat.

McAdams had also been supplying the Silvercrest plant in Monaghan which suspended production when the scandal broke.

The owner of this company, Martin McAdams, told Shannonside FM he had no inkling the product he imported contained horsemeat. And he said he had looked overseas to source product because of price pressures in Ireland.

“They are looking for competitively priced cuts. I did source them at some stage in Ireland, but due to price pressures I was informed to source cuts elsewhere, so I went to the European Union.

“I not only went to Poland — I brought in products from Germany, Holland, and Belgium.”

Garda Commissioner Martin Callinan has said officers were not currently investigating any particular crime in relation to the scandal. However, he said that if criminality was uncovered or suspected gardaí would take a lead role in the investigation.

Mr Callinan said the National Bureau of Criminal Investigation were “assisting” the department’s special investigation unit and the FSAI.

“We are not investigating any particular offence at this point in time, but if evidence becomes available, or a strong suspicion that there is a trangression of the criminal law that would involve ourselves, then obviously we would take a lead role,” he said.

He said the fraud squad would most likely become involved if fraud issues were uncovered by the NBCI. Gardaí had not so far been involved in any searches.