BELGIUM: Animals quarantined as Belgians probe level of dioxins in pig and poultry meat

Record ID: 693719

  • Title: BELGIUM: Animals quarantined as Belgians probe level of dioxins in pig and poultry meat
  • Date: 2nd February 2006
  • Summary: (BN 12) BRUSSELS, BELGIUM (FEBRUARY 1, 2006) (REUTERS) YVAN DEJAEGHER, DIRECTOR GENERAL OF THE BELGIAN PROFESSIONAL ASSOCIATION OF ANIMAL FOOD INDUSTRY AT HIS DESK ; SIGN OF THE ASSOCIATION OF ANIMALS FOOD INDUSTRY (AFPACA) (SOUNDBITE) (French) YVAN DEJAEGHER SAYING: "These raw materials, these animal fats have contaminated our composed animal food which have then been d
  • Embargoed: 17th February 2006 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Belgium
  • Country: Belgium
  • Topics: Health
  • Reuters ID: LVA485ITUZN5IZLZFZ8BWCB2D97O
  • Story Text: Germany slaughtered pigs from five farms for testing and hundreds of farms in Belgium and the Netherlands remained quarantined on Wednesday (February 1) as authorities probed levels of the carcinogen dioxin in pig meat.
    Dutch and Belgian food officials said that meat from contaminated farms were sold in shops in the last two months but they ruled out any serious risk to public health, although conclusive meat tests results are not due until later this week or next week.
    Belgian food safety officials discovered that the dioxin in the latest outbreak came from the use of an unfiltered ingredient to extract pig fat from the process of making gelatine at PB Gelatins, a Tessenderlo unit.
    The extracted fat was later distributed to Belgian animal feed producers such as Leroy and Algoet.
    "During a period of 3 weeks last October, filters we had set on our own initiative to improve the quality were defective", Geerty Dusar speaking on the behalf of Tessenderlo, told Reuters television.
    "Based on the new insights into PCBs and dioxin, Tessenderlo Group will be further tightening its procedures and its evaluation of this kind of situation," she said
    The company said it was too early to discuss compensation for tainted feed, but the association of Animal Food Industry says the companies affected will need years to recover their image.
    "These raw materials, these animal fats have contaminated our composed animal food which has then been distributed to some farms. And now about 400 farms are on quarantine", Yvan Dejaegher, director general of the Belgian association told reuters Television.
    "This will have very big and strong economical consequences, and we will need years to re establish the products' image", he added.
    Belgian food safety officials said the dioxin was no longer present in subsequent batches of extracted fat at PB Gelatins.
    Altogether, more than 650 farms, including a handful raising chickens, have been quarantined in the Netherlands, Belgium and Germany since last week when the news first broke. The farms do not want to be identified or to publicise their quarantine. Produce from these farms cannot be sold or transported while the order remains in effect.
    The dioxin, a class of chemicals widely used in industrial processes, got into Belgian pork fat ingredients used to make animal feed in October, authorities have said, adding that meat from affected farms was sold in shops. But the fact that dioxin is above the norm in animal feed doesn't automatically mean a direct health risk, according to the Belgian food safety agency AFSCA.
    Belgium has substantial pork exports. South Korea banned pork imports from both Belgium and Netherlands last week.
    Dioxins are one of a number of toxic chemicals that originate in pesticides or industrial processes. They get into rivers and lakes and build up in the flesh of fish and animals. Contaminated feed has triggered several west European food scares such as the discovery of dioxin in Dutch potato animal feed in 2004, an illegal hormone in Dutch pigs in 2002 and a 1999 Belgian scandal of dioxin in chickens, the biigest dioxin scandal in Europe.
    At the end of may 1999, Belgium was shocked by a serious contamination of food. As wel as in chicken meat as in eggs of some growers, high levels of dioxin were found. The pollution was the result of a contamination with PCB's, which might be from used transformers, that has been mixed in some way with old oil from french fries baking. 7,000,000 chickens and 60,000 pigs had to be slaughtered. The scandal that followed caused a landslide in the elections one month later
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