Vote 11 - State Laboratory

From yesterday's indo. I assume it's the same State Laboratory that gets a mention below.

Quote :

FOOD safety inspectors are investigating an animal feeds factory in the south east which is suspected of being the cause of a major health scare.

http://www.independent.ie/national-news/pig-sales-banned-as-inspectors-probe-toxic-feed-scare-1565704.html

The Department of Agriculture has banned a number of pig farms from selling or slaughtering their animals after its inspectors found traces of a toxic industrial pollutant in their pigs.

It is understood that one possible source of the contamination is out-of-date bread, which did not have its packaging removed, and was subsequently used in the production of animal feed for pigs.

However, it is not known yet if there is any threat to human health because the testing of the contaminated samples has not yet been completed.

'Dirty'

The department inspectors discovered the presence of Polychlorinated Biphenyls (PCBs) in the slaughtered pigs.

These organic compounds were used widely as coolants and lubricating fluids, but production of them was banned in the 1970s due to their high toxicity.
...
The Department of Agriculture has declined to provide further details about the suspected factory on the grounds that it would not be fair to identify any particular business until further tests were carried out.

Restricted

In a statement, it said that a small number of pig farms had been restricted as a precautionary measure.

"Animals from these farms will only be allowed to enter the food chain if they are shown to be free of the contaminant following laboratory testing," it said.

The testing is taking place this weekend in the State laboratory in Celbridge, Co Kildare, and additional samples have been sent to the UK for testing.

The department said it will provide the results and make a further statement on Monday.

The Food Safety Authority of Ireland, which is monitoring the potential human health implications of the contamination scare, was not available for comment last night.

I know there should be numbers and figures and costs here but the 'State Laboratory' rarely gets a mention in the media if this is the same one. We might be hearing a bit more about it now though.