The use of illegal hormone growth-promoters which plagued the Irish beef industry in the last decade would appear to be over.
Residue testing by the Department of Agriculture and Food last year on farms and in factories found no residues of growth-promoters covered by an EU ban introduced in 1988.
A statement from the Department of Agriculture and Food yeserday said the increased monitoring covered not only cattle but pigs, sheep and poultry, farmed deer, fish and horses.
"The absence of banned hormonal growth-promoters in Irish beef and other meat, as indicated by these results, is reassuring for consumers and reflects the fruits of rigorous enforcement by the Department in past years and the responsible approach being adopted by farmers," it said.
During 2002 almost 75,000 samples were taken on both a targeted/suspect basis from 11 domestic food-producing species and from products imported from Third Countries, particularly where the European Commission had taken a "safeguard decision" in respect of specified Third Countries.
"In overall terms as regards domestic production, the level of positive samples in 2002 was 0.53 per cent, 398 positives out of 74,665 samples.
"This is in line with the low levels found in recent years: 0.58 per cent in 2001; 0.45 per cent in 2000. Of 399 samples taken from product imported from Third Countries, one was positive for the presence of Nitrofurans, an antibiotic banned within the EU," it said.
During 2002 testing for residues of antibiotic medicines continued at levels well in excess of those required by EU obligations. The overall positive level in 2002 of half of 1 per cent, 366 positives out of 64,245 samples, was marginally below that of the previous year, 380 positives out of 57,860 samples.
Most antibiotic testing was carried out in the pig sector where almost 57,000 screening tests were carried out, and the level of positives at 0.49 per cent in 2002 was down from 0.67 per cent in 2001.
One freshwater trout tested at a fish farm was found to contain an unauthorised substance, Leucho Malachite Green.