The Department of Agriculture has moved quickly to locate and detain all Belgian poultry and egg produce in circulation in the Republic, following concern that it may contain quantities of cancer-causing dioxin.
The move came as the EU ordered the removal from sale and destruction of all Belgian chickens, eggs and poultry products throughout Europe.
The Department of Health issued an alert yesterday to retailers and health boards drawing attention to the possibility of "contaminated product" in shops and supermarkets, or in use within the catering sector.
The quantity of Belgian product arriving in the State was likely to prove to be small, according to a Department spokesman. The Republic was 70 per cent self-sufficient in eggs, and most imports came from the North.
But the Department was implementing the EU alert and protection measures as recommended.
Most imported poultry meat is used by the processing industry and the commercial catering sector. There was only £540,000 worth of poultry meat imports from Belgium in 1997, compared with £25 million from Britain and Northern Ireland.
The Food Safety Authority of Ireland advised consumers to avoid eating Belgian poultry or egg products, including pate, until clearance by the EU. Dioxin, it noted, was a carcinogen that could cause disease after chronic lowlevel exposure over a long time. Dioxin can be a by-product of incineration or the chemical industry, and may contaminate soil. It is believed contaminated feed pellets were used by the Belgian poultry industry.
The EU order applies to products dated from January 15th to June 1st and concerns poultry products whose egg content is more than 2 per cent of the total ingredients.
Two executives of an animal-feed company suspected in Belgium's poultry scandal have been arrested and charged with fraud and falsification of documents. They operate a company called Verkest at Deinze which supplied companies in Belgium, France, Germany and the Netherlands.
Laboratory tests showed some feed products contained up to 140 times the permitted level of dioxin.
The FSAI Helpline is open during office hours with an update on Belgian product alert at 1800336677.
