Romanian Food Safety Auth Seizes 34 Tons Of Bad Pork Meat

Of the 133.6 tons of pork meat imported by Romania from Ireland, 34 tons were seized, while the rest was processed. The national food safety authority decided, through the rapid alert system, to pull these products off the market, said food safety authority head Radu Roatis.

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Food safety inspectors performed 2,948 inspections and discovered 133.6 tons of meat coming from Ireland, Radu Roatis said.

According to Roatis, Romania received three official notices about 93.6 tons of meat from Ireland, respectively 3.6 tons brought through Belgium, 70 tons through Hungary and 20 tons through Italy. Inspections revealed another 40 tons coming from France.

"Of all 133.6 tons known to have reached Romania, only 34 tons were seized, while the remaining 99.6 tons are processed and they will be pulled off the market through the rapid alert system," Roatis added.

Over 3.5 tons of contaminated pork from Ireland, which reached a warehouse in Romania’s capital city Bucharest, were supplied to five companies located in three Romanian counties, said recently Csutak Nagy Laszlo, vice-president of the national food safety authority.

Csutak Nagy said that 3,640 kilograms of contaminated Irish pork reached Romania via Belgium and were supplied to five companies located in Ilfov county, near Bucharest, as well as in Buzau and Olt counties, eastern and southern Romania.

He added, however, that the meat was processed and mixed with other products, which lowers the risk of contamination, stressing that the distribution network of contaminated Irish pork might extend to other counties in Romania.

The official added the inspectors of the food safety authority conducted checkups at the aforementioned warehouse, following notifications on the quantity of contaminated Irish pork reaching Romania.

Csutak Nagy pointed out that, starting September 1, following notifications regarding contaminated Irish pork products delivered to 11 European Union member states, except Romania, all cross border units were notified in this respect in order to check imports from Ireland.

The European Commission on Monday invited all member states to recall and check all pork products imported from Ireland after dioxins, which can potentially cause cancer, were discovered in slaughtered pigs thought to have eaten contaminated feed.

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