Pork fiasco hits farmers during vital Christmas market period
The pork meat scandel has escalated in recent days following the news that 'the type of oil used in the pig meal processing factory at County Carlow was inappropriate for the type of operation' which was was carrying out.
The company in question did not use proper oil in its machinery. This was revealed at a press conference on Monday afternoon at Government Buildings.
The operator of at the Millstream Recycling plant in Clohamon Mills, Co Carlow plant did not have an appropriate license to use the oil in which he was using in his machines.
Officials from the Department of Agriculture said the oil was "absolutely not" added to the pig feed, but it appeared it had been used in the process of generating heat for the processing of the human food produce to turn it into pigfeed. It's believed the pigfeed somehow became contaminated with potentially dangerous dioxins during this process.
This could mean that thousands of employees of the pig sector could be let go before Christmas as there is no slaughtering while this incident is being investigated.
Factories are also seeking compensation from the government as 'the problem is not of their making'.
The question that now needs to be asked is whether or not the person responsible for this catastrophe was aware that the factory was not engaged in proper working conditions for dealing with pig meal. If he did this knowingly, he should be aware that the entire pig meat sector is in jeopardy in this country as a result.
It was with shock on Saturday evening that we learned of the possible contamination of pig meal and it's confirmation has led to dire consequences for the pig sector in this country. It has dearly cost the farmer and it will cost him more into the future as confidence in the pig meat industry will not be unharmed following this revelation.
The contamination is likely to have a severe impact on the €7 billion Irish food industry.
Contaminated feed from the Co Carlow facility had also been supplied to nine farms in Northern Ireland which now have been restricted.
The investigation has found contaminated pork with dioxin levels of 80 to 200 times above the safety limits. It is being led by the Departments of Agriculture and Health, and the Food Safety Authority of Ireland (FSAI). The Gardai are also involved.
The FSAI has advised consumers not to eat any pork products. But it said people should not be alarmed or concerned in relation to the potential risks from short-term exposure to dioxins found in pork products.
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