Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 9 May 2017
567. Deputy Jackie Cahill asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the reason the samples for testing for residues in milk in the Silvermines, County Tipperary, area are being sent to the UK in view of the fact it is causing a delay in getting results; if a facility here can carry out the testing; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [22116/17]
Amharc ar fhreagraAccording to EU food hygiene regulations it is the responsibility of the food business operator (FBO) to ensure that food placed on the market is fit for human consumption. This includes the FBO’s obligation to test for undesirable substances, such as lead.
Where appropriate tests are commercially available for routine testing of food products it is the norm that the FBO would use a commercial laboratory, as has been done for the tests required in the Silvermines area. The laboratory chosen to conduct these tests is a commercial matter for the FBO in question. It is part of an international company that has laboratory sites in different countries, with specialised testing being rationalised to specific laboratories to maximise efficiencies. This is nowadays normal practice and guarantees service at a more competitive cost; overheads are high for analyses of this nature (the ability to detect lead at extremely low concentrations - where 20 parts per billion is the maximum permitted level in milk) due to the requirement for expensive instrumentation, specialised staff and tight quality control.
The role of my Department’s Laboratories is to test samples taken in the framework of official controls, surveys and investigations. In the current Silvermines investigation my Department has worked in partnership with the FBO in trying to solve this incident and my Department’s responsibility has been to test milk samples taken by my Department’s Dairy Controls & Certification officers and RVL staff. The purpose of the testing of these milk samples was to support actions such as restriction/derestriction of marketing of milk or to help progress the investigation. A customised and well-planned system of sampling, delivery and testing has been coordinated by my Department to allow quicker turnaround times for these official samples. My Department’s Laboratories are however not able to act as a public testing laboratory because of current testing capacity and mandate.
