Loophole Allows Bird-Flu Meat to be Sent Abroad
The Times reports that meat from a farm in England infected with bird-flu “was sent abroad.” There are quarantine rules in place, but six trucks of poultry arrived in Hungary on Thursday. In response to this report, the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs launched an investigation. The defense asserted is that exported the meat said it was done in compliance with current regulations, but public outcry has not waned.
The loophole in the rules is that “[l]ive birds, eggs and carcasses cannot be moved from infected sites, but processed meat in storage is exempt from the isolation rules.” Here are the preliminary results of the investigation:
Among the possibilities being examined by Defra is the suggestion that exported poultry products may have originally come from Hungary and been stored in a refrigeration unit in the same meat processing building that the infected turkeys were taken to in order to be gassed, before being returned to the Continent. Dr Bognar told Channel 4: “I can say that, from the protection zone from the UK, six trucks arrived from the last week to Hungary.”
Tests were done on the poultry and results should be issues soon. There’s no word on whether or not this loophole will be closed any time soon.
[Photo from Wikipedia]
