Salmonella found in Brazilian chicken
Ireland has joined the long list of EU states where bacterial contamination in poultry shipments from Brazil, which are a serious health risk, has been detected.
Agriculture Minister, Michael Creed, has also confirmed that two Brazilian meat consignments have been rejected at Dublin Port, since surveillance was increased in March, when fraudulent practices came to light in Brazil.
From March 20, EU states enhanced their checking and sampling of imports of meat products from there. Under the new regime, 100% of consignments from Brazil receive a physical check, and 20% are sampled for salmonella and E coli.
In May, EU auditors inspected slaughter and meat-processing facilities. Further EU action against Brazilian meat imports depends on the outcome of these audits.
On June 1, Irish authorities reported salmonella bacteria-contamination of frozen, salted chicken breasts from Brazil to the EU’s rapid- alert system for food and feed.
It was detected in early May, at a border control point, and import was not authorised, so the product was not placed on the market.
In recent months, 20% of all notifications to the EU’s rapid-alert system for food and feed have been for detection of serious bacterial contamination in poultry shipments from Brazil.
In March, Brazil’s meat exports temporarily collapsed, after investigators said that Brazilian health inspectors were bribed to overlook expired meats.
Meanwhile, IFA livestock chair, Angus Woods, has called on the EU Commission to suspend all negotiations on agriculture in trade talks with South American exporting nations, because of systematic failures in Brazil.
These mean “the EU Commission can no longer credibly rely on the authorities there to certify meat exports to the EU.”
Mr Woods said that by continuing to engage in Mercosur trade talks, the Commission is undermining the hard-won position of European farmers and consumers, based on high standards in the key areas of food safety, traceability, the environment, and health.
It was announced in Brazil
last week
that J&F Investments, the largest shareholder of worldwide meatpacker, JBS SA, has agreed to pay a €3.6bn fine for its role in corruption scandals that threaten to topple Brazilian president, Michel Temer.
The settlement follows testimony from J&F owners, Joesley and Wesley Batista, that they spent €164m to bribe 1,900 politicians in recent years. Even after the
huge
fine, Brazil’s meat processors are in big trouble, with more than 20 companies being investigated for unhygienic practices, including
the giants
BRF (the world’s top poultry producer) and JBS (the world’s largest beef exporter).
This follows the Brazilian Federal
Police
search-and-raid operation in March to investigate companies accused of bribing officials from the
Ministry
of
Agriculture
to obtain health certificates so they could sell in both national and foreign markets out of date meat and meat tainted with chemicals to mask its poor quality.This so-called
Operation
“Weak-
Flesh
” started in 2015, after a complaint by an agriculture inspector to the Federal
Police
.Investigators believe that government officials from the
Ministry
of
Agriculture
and politicians led the corrupt scheme, having subordinates among the agricultural
Superintendence
of other states, such as
Paraná
,
Minas
Gerais
and
Goiás
. Around 33 officials have been suspended.About 46 executives from the Brazilian largest food processing companies have had their phone conversations intercepted, their bank and tax accounts investigated, and their assets frozen.In addition to civil actions, the Federal
Prosecutors
’
Office
has also commenced criminal proceedings, prosecuting 60 individuals for corruption, fraud, prevarication and criminal association.Allegations about the quality of meat, including addition of potentially cancerous chemicals, have hit sales in the local and export markets.
