The Lancet re: proposed dioxin/PCB testing in European foodstuffs

[Neil Tangri <ntangri@essential.org>]

The Lancet, Vol. 354, October 9, 1999, p. 1276.

EU Commissioner Calls for Better Dioxin Testing

The EU Commissioner for Food Safety David Byrne asked European farm
ministers to back his forthcoming proposal for the systematic monitoring
and testing of beef and fish for dioxin and polychlorinated biphenyls
(PCBs) residues at a meeting of agriculture ministers in Brussels on Sept.
27.

Byrne said there was obviously a problem associated with rearing animals
close to some industrial facilities, and in particular near waste disposal
incinerators.  Byrne was referring to a new Belgian report that found PCB
and dioxin residues in ten out of 1000 cattle tested after the recent food
contamination problems in Belgium (see Lancet 1999; 353: 2048).  This high
degree of contamination meant that Byrne was prepared to add dioxins and
PCBs to the list of substances for which member states had to carry out
mandatory testing.

Byrne said that a white paper, or draft proposal, identifying all current
loopholes in animal feed law and proposing specific remedies would be ready
by December.

"I am convinced that the public needs the reassurance that we are
monitoring dioxin levels in our foodstuffs," he added.

The white paper would also cover legislation on labelling animal feed
manufactured using genetically-modified ingredients, said Byrne.

Meanwhile, the Belgian government admitted on Sept. 27 that sludge from
slaughterhouses, tainted with waste from toilets, showers, and cleaning
products, regularly ended up in Belgium's food chain.  Farm Minister Jaak
Gabriels said, "Often we didn't realise what kind of filth was mixed into
[animal] fodder."

The minister stressed that the practice ended when the dioxin food crisis
broke in late May, which led to an intensified inspection process of
Belgium's food chain.

Byrne also said that he would bring forward legislation to define sewage
sludge if EU states continued to insist that there was ambiguity about what
could be added to animal feed.  He said the problem of sludge being used as
an additive had also been found in France, Germany, and the Netherlands.

- Karen Birchard