No sample of product taken from Eurostock or tested in 3 years
08 April 2013
TUV MLA Jim Allister has expressed dismay that not a single sample of product was taken or tested by DARD inspectors in the 3 years before horsemeat was found in product from Eurostock Foods.
In response to an Assembly Question, asking how and when Eurostock and its product was inspected over the last 3 years, the DARD Minister has conceded that in 6 routine audits of Eurostock premises since 2010 not a single sample of product was taken or tested. Likewise, in 12 beef labelling inspections by DARD not a single sample was taken.
Commenting Jim Allister said:-
"It beggars belief that in 3 years of supposed food safety supervision by DARD not a single sample of Eurostock product was taken or tested. How can you vouch for and adequately inspect even the labelling without sampling the product? Yet, this is how DARD performed its functions and duties towards the consumer. Little wonder alien content was possible, because DARD was doing nothing to discover it.
"Only 2 veterinary inspections per annum of meat plants is bad enough, but when the product is never sampled and tested it is useless. If this is the pattern across all our meat plants, and I suspect it is, then consumers and honest producers have been badly let down by DARD. I challenge the Minister to declare what changes will now be put in place, because patently what has gone before has been a miserable failure."
This is the Question & Answer:
Question:
To ask the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development to outline when the Eurostock Foods factory in Craigavon was subject to inspection and the precise nature of each such inspection, including whether content of product was tested, over the last three years .
Answer:
Food businesses such as Eurostock Foods are subject to official controls such as audits, inspections and sampling in respect of food safety, food standards composition and labelling and beef labelling.
The Food Standards Agency (FSA) is the Central Competent Authority in matters of food safety and authenticity here and in Britain. DARD is responsible for the delivery of meat hygiene official controls on behalf of the FSA in the north of Ireland. DARD also enforces the Beef Labelling Regulations in the factory insofar as they pertain to fresh and frozen cuts of beef and mince. Enforcement of food safety, food composition and labelling requirements are conducted by District Council Environmental Health Departments who carry out food hygiene and food standards composition and labelling inspections. District Councils are also responsible for the Beef Labelling controls at retail level and of processed beef products.
Veterinary Service’s delivery of Official Controls in stand-alone Meat Cutting Premises such as Eurostock takes the form of regular risk-based audits. Since January 2010, six routine audits of the Eurostock premises have been completed. The audit process included nine additional informal visits to close off the audits and verify the Food Business Operator’s compliance.
In addition Veterinary Service staff carried out three separate visits to follow up on information provided by other agencies. These concerned import health certification, consumer complaint and an anonymous complaint. All these issues were resolved to the satisfaction of the Veterinary Service inspectors by Eurostock management.
No samples for testing were taken as part of this process.
DARD has also carried out 12 Beef Labelling inspections at Eurostock at approximately quarterly intervals since February 2010. No samples for testing were taken.
Craigavon Borough Council has carried out a total of 16 food hygiene and food standards (composition and labelling) inspections and visits since March 2010.
As part of the process of approving Eurostock for the re-wrapping of fishery products, Craigavon Borough Council carried out two food hygiene inspection visits during 2012. One of these visits also included a food standards inspection.
Since the publication of the FSAI survey findings on 14th January 2013, Environmental Health Officers from Craigavon Borough Council have carried out a further 13 inspections and visits focussing on species declaration. Formal samples were taken during two of those inspections.
