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Within 12 hours of the pork recall being announced, the international press was carrying the story and the manner in which the news was reported by some papers will have dismayed Irish exporters fearful of the long-term consequences of the crisis.

After 36 hours there were in excess of 1,700 newspaper articles on the crisis in titles spanning the globe. The largest export market for Irish pork is the UK which is where the most widespread and potentially damaging coverage was to be found.

"Toxic Irish pork is swept off shelves" was how the Sunannounced the recall to its readers while the Daily Mirrorsettled on the even more sensationalist "Poison pork panic: Irish pigs were fed on plastic bags".

The Daily Expressmeanwhile ran the story under the banner headline "Shoppers told: Don't eat toxic Irish pork" with the Daily Mailopting for "British shoppers 'may not be able to tell whether they have Irish poison pork in their fridge'".