Authorities insist no risk to public from contaminated feed

DIOXIN contaminated fishmeal mixed into animal feed distributed to farms with chickens and pigs in Larnaca and Limassol poses no danger to public health, according to the Deputy Director of the Veterinary Services, Petros Papasozomenos.

Papasozomenos yesterday pointed out that the quantity mixed in the animal feed was very small. Papasozomenos said that samples from different units were sent yesterday for tests in a specialised lab in Germany.

“As Veterinary Services, we have our own programme, and many tests are being carried out in the State Lab, but a great number of tests are conducted abroad under a special agreement. We have the list of the units where the contaminated animal feed was distributed. We will proceed with our tests, we will confiscate any ready products of slaughtered chicken or pigs. This procedure is not a matter of hours or days, the samples are being taken today, they will be shipped to Germany and we will await the result.”

The contaminated feed was found on Friday by the state services. It was in a load of fishmeal, which was imported from Denmark. The development raised the alarm in all the affiliated services and the European Union.

Papasozomenos said that, “The percentage of fishmeal mixed in the feed is 1.5 per cent, which meals 15 kilos in a ton so the percentage expected to be found in the meat will be relatively small. There is no red alert like the media says. People should put their trust in the Veterinary Services, which handle these matters responsibly .This is not the first time we are faced with such matters; it is now part of a routine for us.”

The total quantity of contaminated fishmeal is 108 tonnes, of which a large quantity, approximately 30 per cent, went on the market and has already been consumed. According to the Director of the Agriculture Department, Christodoulos Photiou, “the test results and the finding that the cargo was contaminated came on Friday morning and the state services confiscated the 77.5 tons that had not yet been consumed. “According to the results of the tests, a concentration of dioxins beyond the permissible limit was found in the fishmeal.”

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