A MAN HAS been arrested in relation to the contamination of pork products in 2008.

Gardai have confirmed that they are detaining one man in his 50s after arresting him in the Monaghan area. His arrest by members of the National Bureau of Criminal Investigation is part of a cross-border operation between gardai and the Police Service of Northern Ireland. The PSNI are investigating offences under the 2006 Fraud Act and they made four arrests in the North this morning relating to the pork contamination crisis of two years ago.

On December 6, 2008, the Food Safety Authority of Ireland (FSAI) recalled all Irish pork products dated from September 1 that year onwards from the market. It had been discovered that contaminated animal feed had been supplied by one Irish manufacturer in Co Carlow to beef and pig farms across Ireland and also to a number of farms in Northern Ireland.

It had been reported by The Belfast Telegraph that the feed had been contaminated by dioxins from oil which came from Co Tyrone. Inspectors had found that the oil was “inappropriate” for use in a burner in the Co Carlow factory which converted pork products into feed for other farm animals.

Within days of the announcement by the FSAI, the pork industry was thrown into chaos. SIPTU feared that around 8,000 jobs in the sector would be at risk after pork plants effectively stopped operations immediately. Retail News magazine reported that 1,800 jobs were lost within the first few days of the crisis. The scare also affected Irish exports abroad with even the US news giant CNN reporting that “another red flag is being waved over dinner tables this week with warnings from the Irish government not to eat its pork products”. It called the crisis “worryingly familiar”.