Tests are being carried out on Irish milk to discover if it has been contaminated through the feeding of Brazilian citrus pulp pellets to dairy cows here.
The Minister for Agriculture, Mr Walsh, yesterday banned the importation of the citrus pulp from Brazil or the distribution of the 3,000 tonnes of the animal food currently in storage here.
It is currently being held at New Ross, Ringaskiddy and Drogheda ports, which this year have handled the importation of 140,000 tonnes of citrus pulp, one-third of it from Brazil.
The Minister told a press conference yesterday that he was imposing the ban as a public health protection measure following the discovery of toxins in milk which had been imported into Germany from the Netherlands.
The Germans had detected elevated levels of dioxins in milk in March and traced the problem to the citrus pulp, which had been imported into the EU through Dutch ports. The Netherlands authorities confirmed the German findings when they carried out tests of their own and the Commission held talks with the Brazilian authorities some days ago to try and get to the root of the problem.
At this stage it is not known if the fruit waste which caused the problems in Germany is part of one shipment from Brazil or if the problem is more widespread.
The pulp, which is mixed into animal feed, could have been contaminated on board ships or during the drying process. However, the fruit itself may have been over-treated with chemicals.
Pending investigations in Brazil, the Department of Agriculture will carry out tests on milk from cows which may have been fed on citrus pulp pellets.
In the meantime, the importation of the pulp is being banned here and if necessary, the tonnage held here will be destroyed.