The Department of Agriculture and Food has had to extend its recall of contaminated cattle feed after it emerged that part of a cargo from the US to Ringaskiddy, Co Cork, had earlier been discharged in Foynes, Co Limerick
Tests carried out on the cargo of maize/gluten which arrived in Ireland from the US into Ringaskiddy on November 12th found the material, which was to be incorporated in cattle feed, was contaminated with animal bone.
Most of the cargo of 4,676 tonnes was still in the docks when the results of tests became known. The remaining 2 per cent, which had already been released, was recovered from mills and farms.
However, yesterday it emerged that 1,845 tonnes of the same cargo were off-loaded on November 9th in Foynes, three days before the Cork discharge.
A spokesman for the Department of Agriculture and Food said samples were taken from the cargo and sent for analysis, but the results had only recently come back.
"The results from the Ringaskiddy tests came back quicker than the ones from Foynes, but now we know there was contamination of the Foynes material."
The spokesman said 91 per cent of the maize/gluten was still in the port, but that 171 tonnes had been distributed to four compounding plants.
"We are in the process of recalling this material and cattle feed from the farms which may contain this material."
He stressed that the cattle feed presented no health risk to either animal or human health, but the materials found, animal bone, were not allowed to be incorporated in animal or poultry feed.
The incorporation of meat and bonemeal into cattle feed has been banned by the EU since 1989, and was banned from pig and poultry rations in 2000.
The Ringaskiddy recall and an earlier one involving contaminated sugar beet waste imported from Germany had sparked calls from farm organisations and politicians for tighter controls on imports.
The Irish Farmers' Association (IFA) demanded that no feed be released from docks until the results of tests were available. It argued that the Department and the feed trade must implement a system of sampling and testing that is fast, efficient and reliable.
However, the Department of Agriculture and Food has said it would be found in breach of single market rules if it insisted on this.