The Department of Agriculture and Food still does not know how many of the 1,500 missing pigs which might have been treated with an illegal growth-promoter in Co Waterford have been processed and eaten.
The Department announced yesterday it was taking action over an alleged breach of a restriction notice banning the movement of animals off a pig farm in Co Waterford since last April.
The Department's tests for trace elements of drugs in pork had uncovered traces in pigs from the farm of the drug carbadox, a growth-promoter banned by the EU in 1999 because of concerns about its potential effects on the health of workers in feed mills and on consumers.
However, over the past number of days, the Department's special investigation unit discovered that 1,500 pigs had been moved off the farm. A spokesman said last night that 400 pig carcases and 200 tonnes of pigmeat had been seized from two plants which had processed the farm's pigmeat, one in the west and one in the midlands.
"We know that some of has been already consumed but how much we still don't know, and we are conducting a major investigation," he said.
While not wishing to understate the safety concerns surrounding carbadox, consumption of meat from animals exposed to the substance, on a once-off or short-term basis is unlikely to represent a significant health risk. This was confirmed by independent health experts last night who pointed out that the drug was still legally in wide use outside the EU.
The Fine Gael spokesman on agriculture, Mr Billy Timmons, said the Minister for Agriculture, Mr Walsh, must explain how the meat got into the food chain. The Irish Farmers Association said it was "dismayed at this single isolated incident" but said it was one too many.