This article is from page 75 of the 2008-06-24 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 75 JPG
IRISH food producers appear to be winning the battle against unwanted food contaminants appearing in the Irish food chain.
According to new research released last week just 24 positives cases of food residue contamination were re- corded last year. These positive cases were taken from more than 30,000 overall samples and represent a 0.08 per cent contamination rate. This represents a 50 per cent decrease on the 0.17 per cent recorded in 2006.
Of the 24 positive samples, 14 taken in the poultry sector contained residues of a feed additive approved
for use in poultry production.
Both the Food Safety Authority of Ireland (FSAI) and the Department of Agriculture declared themselves satisfied that these positives cases did not pose a specific risk for con- sumers of poultry meat.
Of the remaining ten positives, nine contained residues of author- ised veterinary medicines, while an individual sample of wild game was positive for an environmental con- ieDeaupar-balm
In the milk sector, where 1,134 samples in total were taken, two samples or 0.18 per cent contained residues at levels above the MRL for Anthelmintics, which are medicines
approved for the treatment and con- trol of parasites.
Of the two positives, one related to cows milk, while the other related to goats milk and were due to failure to comply with requisite post-treatment withdrawal periods.
Another reassuring aspect of the 2007 results for consumers is that no traces of banned medicines or growth promoters covered by the hormone ban were found in any samples.
This reflects the fruits of the robust approach taken by the department in the past as well as a responsible ap- proach taken by the farming sector. Notwithstanding this good outcome, the department will continue to be
vigilant in monitoring activities both at farm and slaughter house/process- ing plant level.
Meanwhile in the aquaculture sec- tor more than 650 tests for 2,219 de- terminants were carried out on 161 samples of farmed fin fish for a range of residues. As in 2006, no positive results were detected in the national monitoring programme for farmed finfish in 2007.
The Food and Veterinary Office (F VO) of the European Commission, as part of its ongoing programme of inspections in EU member states and in third countries, carried out an au- dit of Ireland’s national residue plan during April 2008.