TWO consignments of Irish poultry meat have been turned away from the Swedish port of Malmo in the past week because the local authorities have detected salmonella in the shipments.
The first shipment was held for testing at the port late last week and confirmation that the 40 foot container load of poultry from Ireland was contaminated with salmonella was carried on national television. The second container of chicken pieces was held for inspection earlier this week and it was confirmed yesterday that it also had been found to contain salmonella. The consignments are thought to be worth £15,000.
The Department of Agriculture last night confirmed that the shipments had been found to contain salmonella but could not confirm any details of who shipped the poultry to Sweden, or its Irish source.
The food board, An Bord Bia, said it was investigating the report but had no details from Sweden on the shipment's source. Industry sources were also puzzled about the source.
An Irishman who lives in Malmo, and who did not wish to be named, alerted The Irish Times to what had happened at the port when he saw the television reports. "It's been a bad week for Irish people living here because Irish food is getting a very bad name.
"The national television coverage was considerable and it was made very clear that the source of the salmonella was Ireland," he said.
Earlier this week, he added, local television stations carried a report that more contaminated chicken had arrived from Ireland and that a load of chicken pieces was being checked.
Swedish vigilance about salmonella is very strict. Sweden sought and got a derogation from EU single market regulations to test all food for salmonella.
While most Irish poultry product exports go to the UK, Irish meat exporters have been attempting to get product into Sweden since it joined the EU. Irish beef sales there have jumped from 9,000 tonnes in 1995 to 12,000 tonnes in 1996. All beef going into Sweden is tested for salmonella.