DUBLIN (AP) Ireland issued an international warning on Saturday for people not to consume Irish-produced pork products because they could contain dangerous levels of contaminants.
The government’s Departments of Health and Agriculture jointly called for the recall or destruction of all Irish pork produced since Sept. 1 after discovering potentially dangerous dioxins in pigs and pig feed at 80 to 200 times the safety limit.
Dioxins, which are naturally occurring and can enter an animal’s system through its food or environment, accumulate in the pig’s fat and, if ingested by humans in sufficient volume and time period, have been linked to an increased risk of cancer.
In a statement, the office of Prime Minister Brian Cowen said officials from the Agriculture Department and the Food Safety Authority of Ireland were still investigating “the extent of the contamination and to identify the processors and products involved.”
The government’s warning that Irish pork may have been tainted for months threatens a pig industry worth more than $600 million annually.
Ireland’s farms produce more than three million pigs a year, nearly half of which are consumed in Ireland. But Irish pork also is heavily exported to neighboring Northern Ireland and the rest of Britain and appears in grocery stores and processed meats through much of Europe and Asia.