Vol. 420 No. 6
183 Mrs. T. Ahearn asked the Minister for Agriculture and Food if he will outline the procedure operating in meat factories for the testing of animals to which hormones and other illegal substances have been fed or injected, and if he will make a statement on the matter.
My Department carry out testing for hormones and other illegal substances at factories as part of an EC random testing programme. A specified number of samples in the case of each one of a number of particular substances is selected and tested annually on a random basis. Where carcases are found to be positive, investigations are extended to the farm of origin.
This random testing is supplemented by sampling of animals presented for slaughter where there are grounds for suspicion that there has been illegal administration of substances because of, for example, the animal's conformation or the detection of implants or injection sites. Where the test result proves positive, the meat or meat product derived from the animal is deemed to be unfit for human consumption. The legal basis for this procedure is the European Communities (Control of Veterinary Medicinal Products and Their Residues) Regulations, 1988 and 1990.
All samples from slaughtered animals are placed in tamperproof containers and transported to an official testing laboratory by a means which will ensure that they will not be damaged or delayed. On each container is noted the code number for the sample, the factory carcase number to enable the herd or flock of origin to be identified, the species and sex of the animal, the date the sample was taken and the name and address of the establishment at which the sample was taken.
