Pig meat recall in Ireland

Listening to the radio this morning, I was very taken aback at the news that all pig meat was being recalled in Ireland (and on its export market) due to the presence of PCBs in routine samples taken earlier this week. It emerged that the cause of the toxins was due to animal feed from one feed supplier, and apparently only a small number of farms used that feed supplier. However, as pig processing is carried out in a very small number of plants around the country, it was impossible to separate out the pork products. I am puzzled that this is the case, as surely we have traceability schemes in place for this very sort of reason? What is the point of having extensive management systems in place - which presumably add considerable cost to meat production - if these systems dont work when there is a problem?

It does of course throw up many other issues - not least whether or not it was a wise decision to concentrate meat processing into a small number of plants around the country? While perfectly understandable from a logical perspective - that it is easier to control and manage large scale facilities rather than a myriad of small-scale processors - it does mean that when there is a problem, it becomes a large problem very quickly, and a whole section of the industry has gone into crisis due to an initially small problem. Diversification and dispersion of effort has its own benefits which shouldnt be ignored or forgotten.

I feel very sorry for the people who have now been caught up in a crisis not of their own making, particularly at this time of year when the Christmas tradition of having a ham as part of Christmas dinner would have meant a major boost to incomes at a difficult time in the economy and in farming - as well as the many other products which are being affected. The versatility of pork products will mean that all sorts of prepared and processed foods will also have to be recalled, and throw a lot of businesses into chaos.

One does wonder how PCBs managed to infiltrate animal feed - one rumour is that the covers of stale bread managed to get into the feed? Are PCBs in materials used to wrap bread - that is nearly more scary! Back to meat though - Given that humans are at the top of the food chain, maybe it is time to rethink our approach to cheap meat production - if the end result is food with toxins in it. Bad source materials at one end of the food chain surely will not disappear at the other end of the food chain - are we that foolish that we dont see the connection?