Newspaper Review (3)

Date : 8 December 2008
Title : Ireland recalls pork products
From : The Straits Times (world.international A13)
Summary
Ireland has issued an international warning for people not to consume Irish-produced pork products, following the discovery of a toxic substance in slaughtered pigs. The Food Safety Authority of Ireland advised consumers not to eat Irish pork and bacon products until it knew the extent of the contamination by doxins, which have been linked to cancer. The Irish authorities say that the contamination is likely to have started in September and have called for recall or destruction of all Irish pork produced since September 1. Laboratory results of animal feed and pork fat samples confirmed the presence of dioxins, with toxins at 80 to 200 times the safe limits.

Dioxins can be formed naturally, such as in forest fires but are usually by-products of certain industrial combustion and chemical processes. They can enter an animal's system through its food or environment, accumulating in the pigs' fat. If it is being ingested by humans in sufficient volume and over an extended time period, it could have been linked to an increased risked of cancer. The European Commission said Ireland had acted well and quickly with the recall. The scare over Irish pork came in the wake of a scandal over tainted milk in China, where 6 children died and 300000 others were made ill by consuming dairy products containing melamine.

The pork recall is likely to hit Ireland's pig industry hard, at a time when the economy as a whole is in recession. About 5000 people work in the sector, which is worth more than Euro 450 million annually. Ireland's farm produce more than 3000000 pigs a year, nearly half of which is consumed within the Republic of Ireland. But Irish pork is also heavily exported to Northern Ireland and Britain and appears in grocery stores and processed meats in Europe and Asia. Last year, China had the halt exports if luncheon meat from Shanghai-based Maling Food after the authorities in Hong Kong and Singapore found a banned chemical in the meat.

Reflection
In my opinion, although Ireland had acted well and quickly with the recall, it is still very wrong of them to add substances like dioxins into the food that are used to feed the pigs. Although dioxins can be formed naturally, but they are usually by-products of certain industrail combustion and chemical processes. Didn't they even think of the consequences when doing this act? It may have taken lives of many people who had cancer after long periods of consumption of the pork. The scandal over tainted milk in China this year had already shaken the whole world and some people might have already lose trust to China and are afraid to buy their milk products anymore. Maybe the Irish-produced pork may only contain a little dioxin, it may accumulate in human bodies and cause cancer afterall. And it stated that they had already realised that the prok contain dioxin in September, but they only informed us now. But two months had already passed and people might have eaten Irish-produced pork during this period of time. In a situation like this, people might also lose trust in Irish-produced food products. Not just losing trust in Irish-produced pork, but also all other food products. Why? Because other food products may also contain toxins or chemical products, so afterall, who dare to eat?

KaiXin