CATTLE TESTS:BEEF PRODUCTS from three cattle herds where elevated levels of contaminants were confirmed will not be withdrawn from public sale as they are not sufficiently high to create a risk to public health, the Food Safety Authority of Ireland (FSAI) said.
Test results on three out of 11 cattle herds showed levels of substances known as non-dioxin-like polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) that were two to three times the proposed new maximum EU level, the FSAI confirmed.
The FSAI said these were "preliminary indicators of potential contamination - but do not confirm the presence of dioxins", which are potentially cancer-causing.
In total, 45 farms are now restricted after concerns the cattle may have been exposed to the same contaminated feed sent to 10 pig farms, which resulted in the withdrawal of all Irish pork produce from sale last weekend.
Investigations by the Environmental Protection Agency into the plant where the feed was produced, Millstream Power Ltd in Carlow, are still "ongoing", Department of Agriculture officials told a press briefing.
Minister for Agriculture Brendan Smith said the results were those that had been "hoped for" and he insisted the Government's action to deal with the crisis in recent days sent out a "very good, reassuring message" to consumers and to Ireland's export markets.
Mr Smith said samples from cattle on three out of 11 farms were "technically non-compliant but not at a level that would pose any public health concern".
Nevertheless, any animals in herds found to be above the proposed EU legal limit for dioxins in beef would be taken out of the food and feed chain, he said.
In addition, any product from these herds would not be released on to the market. The European Commission was also being informed of the results of the tests.
"The total number of cattle slaughtered from these herds, from September 1st, amount to some 3,000 out of a total annual slaughter of approximately 1.5 million head, that is some 0.2 per cent of the total annual production," Mr Smith said.
Deputy chief executive of the FSAI Dr Alan Reilly said there was no concern about the health effects from the three farms where higher levels of PCBs had been found.
The levels found, he said were two to three times the proposed EU limit. There was a "huge difference" between this and up to 200 times the limit for dioxins that had been found in tested pork products, he said.
"The adverse health effects for consumption over a short period of this type of elevated level is not going to adversely affect public health," Dr Reilly said.
He said the key issue was that the farms supplied with the contaminated feed had been restricted.
Based on test results, they would either be "allowed or not allowed into the food chain".
"Any product that is on the market, and I stress that it is a very small amount in comparison to the total amount of beef, we will not be requiring it to be withdrawn because we don't believe there is a serious public health risk posed by the levels we have found."
Asked why pork products had been withdrawn following the dioxin tests, but there was no proposal to withdraw beef, Dr Reilly added that the 10 pig farms represented in the region of 6 to 10 per cent of the total quantity of pork produced nationally.
The affected beef herds represented "something like 0.08 per cent".
Dr Reilly said the European Food Safety Authority, assisted by data from the FSAI, hoped to have a risk assessment of the likely health effects of the elevated dioxin levels found in Irish pork products by today.
The State's chief medical officer, Dr Tony Holohan, repeated his assertion of Monday that it was "an evolving situation".
An expert group appointed by the Government would continue to examine the data as results were available, he said.
Dr Holohan said he had written to all GPs informing them that there was no adverse risk to public health.