By Anthony O. Miller and Athena Karsera
HEALTH Minister Christos Solomis yesterday said that, in response to public demand, the government would publish a list today of Belgian-sourced food products suspected of being poisoned by dioxin, one of the most toxic of man-made substances.
Solomis made his remarks after discussing the Belgian dioxin scare rocking Europe with Agriculture Minister Costas Themistocleous and House President Spyros Kyprianou before a House Health Committee hearing on the matter.
He said Cyprus had acted quickly — even before being told to act by the European Union — to order the impounding of foods and imports suspected of containing dioxin, which causes cancer.
He said a product list was not strictly necessary to protect consumers from dioxin-tainted foods or animal feeds, because the government had already ordered all the suspect categories of products removed from store shelves or impounded in importers’ warehouses. Rather, he said the list was being made to satisfy consumer demand.
The Cyprus Consumers Association this week complained the government had failed to publish a list of the brand-names of all suspect Belgian food products, despite Belgium’s publication of the names of 76 companies suspected of producing dioxin-tainted goods, and the publication of the list in Greece.
Sophocles Anthousis, Health Service head at the Ministry of Health, said the Public Health Co-ordinating Committee had declined to publish such a list because “we want to protect” the brand-name manufacturers — despite the EU order banning sale or transfer of the suspect Belgian foods.
The government preferred to list the generic categories of foodstuffs suspected of dioxin contamination, Anthousis said.
The EU generic list includes all Belgian eggs or egg products; all live chickens, cattle and pigs, dressed poultry, beef and pork, and meat products made from them; powdered milk and baby food containing milk; butter, cheeses, other dairy products; chocolates, mayonnaise, sauces and mozzarella cheese.
Themistocleous said yesterday that imported animal feeds already in Cyprus stores or on farms were not dangerous. He was reiterating assurances by Dr Pavlos Economides, director of his ministry’s Department of Veterinary Services, in the wake of press reports to the contrary.
Economides again yesterday said his department had been assured by European feed manufacturers that they had not sourced their raw materials from any Belgian or other companies suspected of dioxin contamination, so all feed stocks already in Cyprus were safe. Besides Belgium, France, Spain and The Netherlands have dioxin-contamination problems.
He further said his department has ordered some 90 tons of imported feed stocks impounded in Limassol Port for later checking against a list of suspect companies.
Anthousis told the House Health Committee his officers were working seven days a week in stores and at ports to impound suspect foods, and were so overworked they could only do the top-priority jobs. He added that, for each sample of suspected food, it would cost between £700 and £1,000 to test for dioxin.
Takis Antoniou, of the Agriculture Ministry, said Cyprus did not have the necessary equipment to test for dioxin, but noted many other countries — including Belgium — were in a similar position.
Dr Panayiotis Zarbos of the Cyprus Medical Association said dioxin was “a big problem” and very high on the World Health Organisation’s list of carcinogens.
He said children were at special risk, since dioxin could be carried in breast milk or cow’s milk, builds up in the body and stays there a long time. Dioxin has a half-life of 12 years, causes grotesque birth deformities, and can be passed down through generations.
House Health Committee Chairman Andreas Parisinos said yesterday all food suspected of dioxin contamination would be examined, and the poisoned food destroyed.
Pavlos Pavlides, Chief Health Inspector, said the government did not know how it would destroy the tainted food or feeds, but felt it was more important now simply to collect the suspect foods, and worry about how to destroy them later.
Takis Fotiades said his Association of Importers was willing to co-operate with the government to protect consumers, but wanted its help in obtaining certificates of safety from European exporters for all imported foods and feeds.
