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Beef contamination threat at eight Northern Ireland farms

Tuesday, 9 December 2008

Cattle from eight farms in Northern Ireland have been fed on contaminated feed and may have got into the food chain, it was revealed today.

The Food Standards Agency said restrictions have been placed around the eight herds and none of the meat from them would get to the consumer.

But the agency said they could not guarantee animals fed on the contaminated feed had not been slaughtered and sold before the alarm was raised at the weekend.

FSA deputy director in Northern Ireland Maria Jennings said: "We know that eight herds in Northern Ireland have been fed the contaminated feed.

"All of those herds have been placed under restriction, which means that none of the meat from those herds will go into the food chain."

She stressed: "The beef that is on sale in Northern Ireland is entirely safe, there is no problem with that meat on sale on the supermarket shelves.

The FSA said it was aware contaminated feed had been fed to cattle on both sides of the border and tests were being carried out to assess what levels of contamination, if any, may be present in potentially affected herds.

Ms Jennings said: "We would expect the risk of contaminants in beef to be significantly lower than in pork.

"Cattle consume a wider variety of feeds and the way their bodies process the feed is different which makes the risk of contamination much lower."

Northern Ireland Agriculture Minister Michelle Gildernew said tracings of animals from the herds which had gone to slaughter have been provided to the meat plants concerned so they can identify products which remain.

She said test results had not yet been received from animals or feed but, when available, they would be provided to the FSA for risk assessment of any threat to public health.

"My department is taking precautionary and prudent measures to protect the industry and public health while we await the results of these tests and the subsequent risk analysis," she added.

Meanwhile, after it was confirmed that no pigs in Northern Ireland had been given the contaminated feed, the FSA said processors could start slaughtering Northern Irish pigs again.

Ms Jennings said: "We are quite happy that the processors can start to process Northern Irish pigs, it is safe and can be put on the shelves."

Within hours, Northern Ireland pork products were reappearing on the supermarket shelves in the province.

Processing has resumed at pork factories.

Agriculture minister Michelle Gildernew said: "There is no risk from pork or pork products, from pigs farmed and raised in Northern Ireland and we look forward to having local pig meat back on shelves and on tables this week."

Samples from cattle given the infected Republic of Ireland-supplied feed are being tested. Results will be available later this week. Those herds have been restricted.

The chairman of Stormont's agriculture committee, The Rev William McCrea, welcomed the fact that none of the food was unsafe.

"There is no contaminated food, there was contaminated feed that was brought into Northern Ireland, there's no contaminated food," he said.

"It is something we should be heralding right from the rafters that Northern Ireland products are safe to eat from the farm to the plate."