THE Department of Agriculture has denied the existence of a secret report on the pigmeat sector. It was commenting on a report in yesterday's Examiner which said the Department had suppressed the findings.
The Department said that samples of pigmeat it tested for antibiotic residues had shown a sharp increase in the current year. The industry was told that the levels were "undefendable" at a meeting some weeks ago.
In a statement, the Department said subsequent action had borne fruit and the results of tests done in October showed that the levels had fallen.
The chairman of the IFA's pigs and pigmeat committee, Mr Liam Ryan, welcomed the introduction of additional stringent industry controls.
The director of the Irish Association of Pigmeat Processors, Mr Ciaran Fitzgerald, said the pigmeat on supermarket shelves produced by his members met the most stringent monitoring and sampling procedures. "In addition, where product is found to contain residue, it is immediately removed from the food chain."