Tainted Irish pork may have reached 25 nations

[Ban Hammer 14,288]

DUBLIN/LONDON (Reuters) – Irish pig meat contaminated with toxic dioxins could have been exported to as many as 25 countries, including France and the Netherlands, Irish government officials said on Sunday.

The Irish government has recalled all domestic pork products from shops, restaurants and food processing plants because of contamination with dioxin -- which in some forms and concentrations, and with long exposure, can cause cancer and other health problems.

Neighboring Britain, the main export market, has warned consumers not to eat any Irish pork products after tests revealed the contamination.

"We believe it's in the order of 20-25 countries. It's certainly less than 30," Chief Veterinary Officer Paddy Rogan told a news conference, speaking about how many countries could be affected, but he did not list all of them.

France and the Netherlands notified Ireland they had received contaminated shipments of meat or processed foods which later turned out to have originated in Ireland, while Belgium received contaminated by-products, officials said.

"They didn't contact us until we had gone public," Rogan said.

Authorities said 10 farms in Ireland and a further 9 farms in the British province of Northern Ireland had used a contaminated pig feed that prompted Dublin to announce the recall on Saturday.

Britain's Food Stands Agency, a government body tasked with protecting public health and consumer interests, said it was investigating whether any contaminated pork products had been distributed in the UK -- a major importer of Irish pig meat.

"The Food Standards Agency is today advising consumers not to eat pork or pork products, such as sausages, bacon, salami and ham, which are labeled as being from the Irish Republic or Northern Ireland," it said in a statement.

British supermarket group Asda, owned by U.S. retail giant Wal-Mart, said it was pulling all Irish pork products from its shelves.

RISKS LOW, CONSUMERS WORRY

The Irish government said on Saturday that laboratory tests of animal feed and pork fat samples confirmed the presence of dioxins, with toxins at 80-200 times the safe limits. Preliminary evidence indicated the problem was likely to have started in September of this year, it added.

The Irish Exporters Association said the total exports of pig meat and related added value products such as pizzas, pies and sandwiches containing pork was about 750 million euros ($950 million). It said 63 percent of this went to the UK.

Britain's FSA said it did "not believe there is significant risk to UK consumers."

The Irish Association of Pigmeat Processors said the contaminated pig feed came from one supplier and the source had been contained.

Experts also said the risk to consumers was low.

"These compounds take a long time to accumulate in the body, so a relatively short period of exposure would have little impact on the total body burden," said Professor Alan Boobis, toxicologist at Imperial College London.

"One would have to be exposed to high levels for a long period of time before there would be a health risk."

Irish officials compared the case to a contamination scare in Belgian poultry in 1999, which has not been found to have had any negative health effects. They added that pork products would return to the shelves within days.

The European Commission said Ireland had acted well and quickly in recalling all locally produced pork products.

But people in Dublin were worried.

Teresa Moran, 57, a careworker and mother of five, said: "I have two pieces of pork in the freezer and I'm afraid of my life to touch them. I don't know what we are going to do about the ham for Christmas. We'll just have to wait and see."

Ireland's Food Minister Trevor Sargent said the problem may originate with by-products of baking that are dried to be used as animal feed. The fuel used in the drying process should be a food-grade oil.

"We do have our suspicions this time that the oil being used was not food grade and therefore may have led to the contamination which has caused such a crisis throughout the industry but only affecting a small amount of pork."

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[Teacher Mark 53]

John Belushi: Thank you, thank you very much. Well, it's come that time again, St. Patrick's Day has come and gone and well, the sons of Ireland are basking in the glow. When I think of Ireland I think a lot of colorful Irish expressions like, "Top of the morning to ya," "Kiss the barney stone," "May the road rise to meet ya," "May you be in heaven an hour before the devil knows you're dead," "I'd like to smash you in the face with my shillelagh," "Danny-boy," "Begorra," "Wail of the banshee," and "Whiskey for the leprechauns, whisky for the leprechauns." But the expression I think most people identify with the Irish, is, of course, the luck of the Irish.

The luck of the Irish. Sure. Let's say you're in a pub somewhere in Ireland, oh, anywhere in Ireland, some guy comes up to you and says, "Hey is that a bomb on you I hear ticking?" And then BAM!!! Your small intestines are on the ceiling and your brains are on your car across the street. That's the luck of the Irish for ya, who's kidding who, okay?

Let's talk about the bad luck of the Irish, all right? How about this, POTATO FAMINE!! How about that? It scares them, doesn't it? Well, it should. That's why they came here in the first place. So they wouldn't have to work in the potato fields. That's why they became politicians, priests, and cops. Luck? Gimme a break.

(he gets more and more worked up as he continues)

I got a friend, his name is Dan Sullivan, he's Irish as they come. We used to drink together a lot. After two drinks, he would look like an Irish pirate. You know? You think he had luck? In one day he got his car stolen, and the stupid, he had no insurance, and no license, and he gets locked up for being drunk. And after that, he takes off for someplace like India or Nepal, or someplace like that. And his mother dies, ya know, so they wire him to tell him to come to the funeral. It's his mother's funeral, that's all. And he's in India or Nepal, sitting squat-legged listening to some sacred cow. So he comes back and he gets stopped at U.S. Customs for trafficking illegal drugs, not holding, he's trafficking. I mean, here's this guy Sullivan, his old lady kicks off, he gets popped at the border and he's sitting on fifty pounds of black Tibetan finger hash and two keys of slam. Now that's not bad luck, that's DUMB luck. I don't think luck has anything to do with it, I don't think he has any brains at all. First of all, he's drunk, then he's a junkie. I don't know what's worse! Don't ask me, ask Sullivan! And what happens?! He calls me up and says, "Hey man, I got busted at the border. I need five grand bail." I said, I said, "Five grand man!? Hey man, I've never even seen five thousand dollars in my life, so don't ask me for it, man, why don't you ask your mother!!" (aside) Which was a dumb thing for me to say because his mother just died. (returns to his loud tirade) Right now, I got this drunken Irish junkie who wants to kill me because of what I said about his mother being in terminal dreamland! Oh pal. One thing! One thing!!! They love their mothers, boy, oh they love their mothers. It's momma this, momma that. (starts flailing his arms wildly in the way only John Belushi could) Oh my Irish mother! Ireland must be heaven, because my mother.. aauugghhh! Aaauugghhh!!! (as he flails he nearly slams his head on the desk and then falls off his chair, still screaming)

[aidan80 9]

John Belushi: Thank you, thank you very much. Well, it's come that time again, St. Patrick's Day has come and gone and well, the sons of Ireland are basking in the glow. When I think of Ireland I think a lot of colorful Irish expressions like, "Top of the morning to ya," "Kiss the barney stone," "May the road rise to meet ya," "May you be in heaven an hour before the devil knows you're dead," "I'd like to smash you in the face with my shillelagh," "Danny-boy," "Begorra," "Wail of the banshee," and "Whiskey for the leprechauns, whisky for the leprechauns." But the expression I think most people identify with the Irish, is, of course, the luck of the Irish.

The luck of the Irish. Sure. Let's say you're in a pub somewhere in Ireland, oh, anywhere in Ireland, some guy comes up to you and says, "Hey is that a bomb on you I hear ticking?" And then BAM!!! Your small intestines are on the ceiling and your brains are on your car across the street. That's the luck of the Irish for ya, who's kidding who, okay?

Let's talk about the bad luck of the Irish, all right? How about this, POTATO FAMINE!! How about that? It scares them, doesn't it? Well, it should. That's why they came here in the first place. So they wouldn't have to work in the potato fields. That's why they became politicians, priests, and cops. Luck? Gimme a break.

(he gets more and more worked up as he continues)

I got a friend, his name is Dan Sullivan, he's Irish as they come. We used to drink together a lot. After two drinks, he would look like an Irish pirate. You know? You think he had luck? In one day he got his car stolen, and the stupid, he had no insurance, and no license, and he gets locked up for being drunk. And after that, he takes off for someplace like India or Nepal, or someplace like that. And his mother dies, ya know, so they wire him to tell him to come to the funeral. It's his mother's funeral, that's all. And he's in India or Nepal, sitting squat-legged listening to some sacred cow. So he comes back and he gets stopped at U.S. Customs for trafficking illegal drugs, not holding, he's trafficking. I mean, here's this guy Sullivan, his old lady kicks off, he gets popped at the border and he's sitting on fifty pounds of black Tibetan finger hash and two keys of slam. Now that's not bad luck, that's DUMB luck. I don't think luck has anything to do with it, I don't think he has any brains at all. First of all, he's drunk, then he's a junkie. I don't know what's worse! Don't ask me, ask Sullivan! And what happens?! He calls me up and says, "Hey man, I got busted at the border. I need five grand bail." I said, I said, "Five grand man!? Hey man, I've never even seen five thousand dollars in my life, so don't ask me for it, man, why don't you ask your mother!!" (aside) Which was a dumb thing for me to say because his mother just died. (returns to his loud tirade) Right now, I got this drunken Irish junkie who wants to kill me because of what I said about his mother being in terminal dreamland! Oh pal. One thing! One thing!!! They love their mothers, boy, oh they love their mothers. It's momma this, momma that. (starts flailing his arms wildly in the way only John Belushi could) Oh my Irish mother! Ireland must be heaven, because my mother.. aauugghhh! Aaauugghhh!!! (as he flails he nearly slams his head on the desk and then falls off his chair, still screaming)

lol.. Sad but true, it happens alright! Believe it or not just the day before thanksgiving I started to feel a wee bit sick.. by Thursday I was as sick as a dog.. thinking I'll be better over the weekend don't worry. Thought my luck changed on Black Friday when I got a really good deal on a new LCD monitor. By Monday I had fluid in my lung, a nasty disease running rampant through my body and the doc was saying go home and rest and munch some steriods and antibiotices. To make it all worse my car wasn't picking up speed too well so thought I'd leave it in to be looked at. I get a call the next day and guess what.. my car is now dead!.. and I'm still feeling the after effecs from being sick for a week. It could always be worse I suppose?

[Niels Bohr 72]

Pigworms.