The Government has announced a national and international recall of all Irish pork and related products in a serious public health alert.

It follows confirmation that non-dioxin PCBs, which are organic pollutants, have been found in animal feed and pork samples.

The news was confirmed in results from UK laboratories this afternoon.

The levels of contamination have been found to be between 80 and 200 times higher than the recommended ammounts.

In a news conference, led by the Minister for Agriculture Brendan Smith and the Minister for Health Mary Harney, it was also announced that 38 beef farms are also being investigated and movement from all affected farms is now restricted.

The recall has been backdated to September 1st.

The problem was identified during routine monitoring of the food chain for a range of contaminants.