Parma, Italy - The dioxin contamination found in Irish pork does not necessarily pose a health risk to humans who ate the product, the European Union's food safety authority (EFSA) said Wednesday. EFSA said in a statement it based its conclusions on the "limited data" provided to it by the EU executive, the Commission, and on the assumption that exposure to dioxin only began in September.
"In the most likely scenario, if someone ate an average amount of Irish pork each day throughout the period of the incident (90 days), 10 per cent of which was contaminated at the highest recorded concentration of dioxins, the body burden would increase by approximately 10 per cent," EFSA said.
Such levels of contamination are of "no concern" to human health, EFSA said.
The Parma, Italy-based body also said it had considered the possibility of a "very extreme case" in which a person would have had to eat a large amount of Irish pork each day throughout the 90 day- period, 100 per cent of which was contaminated at the highest recorded concentration of dioxins.
In such cases, the safety margin of the tolerable weekly intake of dioxin would be "considerably undermined," EFSA said. It added however, that this "unlikely scenario would reduce protection, but not necessarily lead to adverse health effects," on humans.
Millions of euros' worth of food is being destroyed in Ireland and abroad, while an estimated 100,000 pigs are being culled in the wake of the scandal.
Britain, the recipient of 40 per cent of Irish pork exports, has recalled all Irish pork products from supermarket shelves as has Northern Ireland, while Japan, Singapore and South Korea have suspended the import and sale of all Irish pork.
The European Commission has required the 12 European Union member states that had imported Irish pork and pork products to detain the products to check them for dioxins.
