EU health alert service warns of Brazil E.coli meat contamination cases

Dutch Customs officials rejected three consignments of chilled beef from Brazil after discovering they had been contaminated with shigatoxin-producing Escherichia coli. Spanish Customs also blocked a Brazilian cargo of frozen beef for the same reason. And Italian frontier controls stopped the entry of E.coli-contaminated Brazilian frozen boneless beef.

Elsewhere, Italian authorities seized a consignment of frozen deer meat exported from Austria, which was contaminated with E.coli. Meanwhile, RASFF also warned EU member states of a domestic alert in Belgium, where E.coli was found in locally-produced chilled beef shoulder.

At the same time, more salmonella cases have been reported by RASFF – the disease was highlighted recently by the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control as a continuing Europe-wide threat.

Danish health authorities withdrew from sale certain Thai frozen salted chicken breast fillets after the discovery of salmonella contamination. Also, Czech consumer protection officials stopped the sale of frozen gyros-like pork roasting spits, processed within the Czech Republic from German pigmeat.

Meanwhile, Belgium had two local alerts – officials warned of salmonella-infected Belgian-made chilled chicken; and a company sounded its own alarm after finding salmonella in cordon bleu pork.

Other recent health alerts include Italian health officials blocking the sale of Spanish chilled salami because of excess nitrate content. Danish consumer protection officials released a warning about excess levels of trimethoprim in Denmark-reared half carcases of pork.

And Slovene officials warned they had discovered excess zinc, copper and selenium in Polish-exported dog food.