Today, the Irish government recalled all pork products linked to pigs slaughtered in Ireland, after lab tests found evidence of dioxin contamination in both animal feed and pork fat samples.
The most alarming part is that the contamination likely started back in September, according to Ireland’s Food Safety Authority. They have advised consumers not to consume Irish pork and bacon products for the time being.
Wow. Three months before being caught?! I am failing to see the safety in that. Man, it’s stories like this that make me glad I am a vegetarian.
Opposition spokesman Fergus O’Dowd says the inspections of factories making feed products has been lacking. “I find it unbelievable that a spokesperson said tonight for the department that they only go into these factories approximately once or maybe twice per annum,” he said.
I have to agree. It seems ironic that so much money is spent on say…fighting terrorism, yet food safety is so grossly overlooked.
Chronic long-term exposure to dioxins has serious health effects, including causing cancer. Dioxins are mostly present in industrial waste, but most exposure occurs via diet. In fact, more than 95-percent of it comes from the consumption of animal fats, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
It is facts like that that make me want to be vegan. Damn you tasty cheese!
Source: CNN | Photo: © Lahnet | Dreamstime.com
About Jerry James Stone
It's also a good argument for organic food and organic animal feeds.
The meat "industry" is seriously compromising people's health by many unsustainable and inhumane practices. This all goes on behind barred doors – it is extraordinarily difficult to gain access to a factory farm if you are a member of the public or a journalist.
When Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall ran his "Chicken Out" campaign on British TV he set up his own battery farm to display how it was done; that was the only way he could get access to a battery unit.
See http://www.ciwf.org.uk/ for more details on factory farming.