Food Safety Memo: Dioxin Contamination Spreads From Pork to Beef in Ireland; Food Safety Deja Vu All Over Again on the Emerald Isle

A sign in a supermarket meat case in Ireland informs shoppers there will be no pork sold until further notice. The Irish government is today telling supermarkets it's OK to sell fresh pork products again, and telling consumers it's fine to eat Irish pork. But will they 'bite' right away? {Photo credit: Telegraph - UK.]

It's food safety crisis deja vu all over again for Ireland's hog, cattle and dairy farmers, its food processing and retailing industry, and for government and consumers.

In the 1990's Ireland went through a serious food safety issue over BSE in cattle, the deadly brain disease that has implications for human health if enough meat from such infected cattle is consumed.

In March 1996, Ireland's health minister, Steven Dorrell, announced to the country in a press conference from the aisle of an Irish supermarket that cattle produced in the nation may not be safe to eat because of BSE. This announcement sent shockwaves through the farming and food industry, and among consumers, in Ireland, a country that prides itself on producing and consuming most of its own cattle and hogs for national consumption as well as for export, mostly throughout Europe, but also globally including to Asia.

Ireland's BSE scare was a long one. It changed how that nation viewed and handled food safety, including leading to the establishment of new national food safety regulations and regulatory agencies.

But 12 years later it appears the lessons learned and policies created from the 1990's BSE food safety incident weren't enough to prevent another food safety problem.

Last Saturday, it was announced by Ireland's government that it had found significant levels of dioxin in animal feed at farms in Northern Ireland, most particularly in feed fed to hogs. It wasn't until 24 hours later though, late on Sunday, that the government took action, clearing all of the fresh pork products off the shelves in every supermarket, food store and butcher shop in the country.

Now today, it appears the dioxin contamination not only has been found in pork, but also in beef, as the contaminated animal feed looks to have been fed to cattle in Northern Ireland as well as to hogs.

The government is saying it's safe to eat Irish pork and beef from the region, and safe to drink milk from cows in Northern Ireland, despite the contaminated feed. However, among retailers and consumers in Ireland, and in countries where Irish meat is exported to, that assurance isn't being translated into sales (or consumer purchases) of the meat, nor do many feel assured by the government's safety pronouncements right now.

The issue is heating up in the Irish and United Kingdom media. Many questions are being asked by reporters, retailers and consumers. Below is a sampling of stories on the latest food safety problem in Ireland -- and in the world.

BBC News: Beef and milk 'safe to consume'... Belfast Telegraph: Milk supplies restricted amid animal feed scare... Government of Ireland press release: No recall action after dioxins found in Irish beef - Summary... European Union statement: EU blames recycled food plant for Irish pork contamination... Lurgan Today: Beef safe, minister insists... AFP: Irish food scare spreads to cattle... Guardian - UK: Ireland's food crisis spreads to beef... Telegraph - UK: Irish beef contaminated with same chemical as pork...

Belfast Telegraph: Beef contamination threat at eight Northern Ireland farms... Irish Times: Farmers urge consumers to continue buying beef... The Local - Sweden: Tainted Irish meat delivered to Swedish schools...Guardian - UK: EU tells UK to explain its tainted pig-feed problem... The Irish Independent: I will continue to eat pork... Yorkshire Post: Supermarkets move to reassure customers over pork scare...UK retailers strive to identify contaminated Irish pork products... Talking Retail - UK: Tesco still selling Irish pork after dioxin scare... Retailers warned over Irish pork...

Ansa News: Contaminated pork risk low in Italy... Manx Radio - UK: Producer says 'think local', after scare... Irish Herald: Food scare will be with us for years... but still no one quits... Belfast Telegraph: NI pork industry given all-clear in dioxin scare... Belfast Telegraph: China becomes latest country to ban Irish pork.

Ireland's pork (and now beef) food safety crisis coming just a couple weeks before the Christmas holiday, a holiday in which pork and beef play a major role, is something sure not to please food retailers and consumers alike.

Pork and beef are popular in Ireland for holiday tables in a variety of forms, ranging from cocktail sausages and links for party appetizers, to hams and roasts for dinner entrees.

Despite the all is clear given by Irish authorities in terms of the safety of the meat, we have a feeling more Irish households than would normally be the case might just be having a bird as their holiday dinner entree rather than a center-of-the-plate crown beef or pork roast this year.

The issue is global as well, since Ireland exports fresh meats outside of its borders, particularly its prized Irish pork. Many countries have already banned Irish pork, including Sweden and China.

Once again, globally we are seeing another food safety crisis. The stakes are getting higher for some sort of global meeting on the food safety and security issue we believe. This must include emerging countries like China, which needs to dramatically improve its food safety system and laws.

And as the Irish meat issue demonstrates, along with the numerous food safety issues in recent years in the U.S., food safety problems aren't limited to emerging countries like China. Instead they also are a problem for developed western nations and economies.

Because the world will continue to get smaller (global trade) and flatter (more global trade) we believe unless the food safety and security issue is addressed on a global basis as well as nationally by the countries of the world, it will continue to grow, and continue to get worse overall.

Green Memo: The Ban-The-Bulb Movement

Greenpeace UK calling on Ireland to ban the incandescent light bulb

The international movement to ban the sale of incandescent light bulbs is currently in its infancy. However, beginning in 2008, we believe the movement will pick up steam, joining plastic grocery bag bans as a major green campaign in the west.

As our readers know, we've been following closely the growing international movement by municipalities, states and provinces to ban plastic grocery bags. You can read our latest piece on plastic bag bans here.

We believe another ban movement is beginning, and that it will start to pick up steam next year. This movement will be advocating bans on the selling of incandescent light bulbs.

We see this ban taking many forms. First, we think there will be increased pressure put on retailers to stop selling incandescent light bulbs altogether, and to just offer compact fluorescent lamps (CFLs), which most already sell, for sale in their stores. Second, we believe on the governmental level, ban-the-bulb campaigns will be strongest first at the city or municipality levels, followed by states and provinces. Nationwide bans will come last, with some exceptions of course, such as the one discussed below.

One of the first major movements to ban incandescent light bulbs is beginning in Ireland. Greenpeace UK has launched a major online campaign and petition drive to get Ireland's environment minister, John Gormely, to author legislation to ban the incandescent bulb.

Greenpeace UK chose Ireland to start this campaign because the country uses more energy for lighting than any other country in the European Union (EU). Greenpeace UK wants the Irish government to pass a law which will set tough energy efficiency standards on household lighting.

The Irish government has already began a program to phase out incandescent light bulbs and has proposed an "eco-tax" on them in order to favor the use of CFLs Greenpeace supports the tax but says its not enough. Rather, they want the government to implement a law which insists on mandatory, ever-improving efficiency standards for household lighting. Such standards would make the incandescent bulb a thing of the past, they say.

You can read more about the Greenpeace UK proposal here, as well as see the online petition to the Irish government. Thus far 8,634 people have signed the petition. Greenpeace UK's goal is for 10,000 signatures.

Essentially, the group's plan isn't for the Irish government to pass a law that says outright that incandescent light bulbs can no longer be sold in the country. Rather, by passing its proposed lighting efficiency standards, which technologically incandescent bulbs can't meet, the old-school bulbs would just fade away.

In the UK there's currently a "voluntary" ban on incandescent bulbs in place. Bulbs with less than 30 lumens per watt could gradually disappear from the marketplace under the ban--but it is voluntary. A number of UK retailers have said they plan on completely eliminating the sale of incandescents in their stores. For example, the Woolworth's supermarket chain says it will stop selling incandescents by 2010. Additionally, the Co-op, a food retailer with numerous stores in the UK, has said it also will no longer sell incandescent bulbs after 2010.

Swedish furniture and household accessory retailer Ikea, which has stores in the UK and throughout the world, recently announced it will ban the sale of incandescent bulbs in all its stores worldwide by 2011.

Greenpeace UK is lobbying every major retailer that sells incandescent light bulbs in the UK, and tracking their response to the voluntary ban. Thus far one retailer, Currys, says it will stop selling incandescents by the end of this year.

Another UK retailer, Habitat, has committed to eliminating the bulbs from its shelves by the end of 2009. In Addition to Woolworths and the Co-op, other major retailers who say they will stop selling incandescents by the end of 2010 include, ASDA, Sainsburys and Morrisons. Sainsburys is the UK's number one retailer. ASDA is owned by Wal-Mart.

Tesco, the UK's number two retailer, and Waitrose, the leading upscale grocer in the UK, have committed to banning the incandescent bulbs from their shelves by the end of 2011. You can read a list, and time-line, of UK retailers who've thus far agreed to stop selling incandescents here.

The move to ban incandescent bulbs also is picking up steam elsewhere in the EU, but not yet to the degree it has in the UK and Ireland. The movement also is starting to develop in the U.S. Cities such as San Francisco, which is the first U.S. city to ban plastic grocery bags, and a few others are considering legislation regarding household lighting efficiency standards and possible incandescent bulb bans.

Groups also are beginning to put pressure on major U.S. retailers like Wal-Mart, the world's largest retailer, to stop selling the bulbs. Earlier this year Wal-Mart came out with its own private label CFL, which it's selling in some cases for as little as 99 cents each.

We expect to see the movement gain major traction in the U.S. next year however as Green Peace and other groups begin to focus more on retailers, like they are in the UK, and as more cities look at local legislation. In the U.S., such environmental legislation generally starts at the local level, then moves to the states and federal government after.

We also expect to see some progressive retailers stop selling the incandescent bulbs on their own. Major U.S. retailers like Home Depot and Lowe's already devote very little shelf space to incandescents relative to the amount of space they now are devoting to CFLs. Further, public utilities systems in the U.S. are offering rebates on the purchase of CFLs by consumers. These rebates bring the price of CFLs down to that of incandescents, and are resulting in huge sales increases in the CFL category.

This is an issue that, like plastic grocery bag bans, is going to grow rapidly internationally. We will be watching it closely and reporting on it regularly for our readers.