The scheme, which was agreed by the Irish government and the pork sector early today, will compensate processors forced to recall and destroy tonnes of pork which were feared to be contaminated by the cancer-causing substance.
And the Irish Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, Brendan Smith, has confirmed that all the necessary controls are now in place to enable the restoration of supplies of Irish pork and bacon to consumers.
Controls
He said that the purpose of the controls is to ensure that only pigmeat certified as coming from herds that are completely unaffected by the current feed contamination problem enters the food chain and is supplied to consumers.
The Minister said all such products would carry a special label, developed by the Irish Food Board, An Bord Bia, which will confirm that they are safe to consume and verify them as having had no association with contaminated feed.
The Irish Association of Pigmeat Processors (IAPP) said the compensation deal was essential to save the industry.
Fumes from using ‘inappropriate’ oil at the Millstream Power Recycling plant in Carlow in the south west of Ireland caused the pig feed contamination, reports the Irish Department of Agriculture; the oil was used to generate heat to dry dough for the feed, and it is believed that fumes from the oil may have contaminated the feed that was supplied to ten Irish pig farms.
Consumer confidence
Meanwhile, an opinion issued by the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) yesterday stated that Irish pork is safe to eat and posed no serious health risk.
The EFSA findings, coming so quickly after the dioxin contamination first became public knowledge, should make it easier for the Irish pork industry to restore public confidence in its produce.
A spokesperson for EFSA told FoodProductionDaily.com that the agency recognises that when urgent issues arise and need to be addressed by risk managers, it has a responsibility to respond as quickly as possible.
On December 8, the European Commission asked EFSA to provide scientific assistance on the risks for human health related to the possible presence of dioxins in pork and products containing pork.
The spokesperson said the timeframe in question was challenging but not impossible:
“EFSA has been building up its systems and procedures to prepare for rapid advice requests and has been able to utilise networks and draw on data collection resources to facilitate its response.”
He added that while the data on which the experts drew on could have been more extensive, they had enough on which to base their response.