Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I am pleased to have this opportunity to report to the committee on the intensive investigation undertaken by my Department and the Food Safety Authority of Ireland into the source of equine DNA disclosed in certain beefburgers. This meeting was scheduled for last week and would have taken place then if it had not been for the tragic death of Detective Garda Adrian Donohoe. Indeed, it would have taken place during the previous week had I not been taking questions in two European Parliament committees. I am glad the meeting is taking place now. In some ways we have a much clearer picture of what has happened and I can provide more information than I could have last week or the previous week. I am aware that a number of members have received detailed briefings from the Department in regard to the investigation. Spokespersons were particularly interested in the briefings. As the investigation proceeds, members can continue to avail of the opportunity to be briefed by my Department and I will make any member of my team available to provide detailed updates on testing methods and the conclusions that we have drawn.

I am joined by officials from my Department, along with Professor Alan Reilly, who is part of the team investigating what happened. I do not need to remind the committee of the importance of the agrifood industry to our economy in terms of exports and jobs. The industry's success is based on maintaining the highest standards of food safety and quality. Our food safety, traceability and quality control systems must be beyond reproach to allow us to provide the assurances necessary to gain and maintain the edge in consumer markets worldwide. Let us not forget that the vast majority of what we produce on this island is exported to consumers abroad. The particular food incident under discussion was uncovered as a result of the operation of our multi-layered control systems operated coherently by the Food Safety Authority of Ireland and my Department under service contracts and the use by the Food Safety Authority of advanced testing methods which are not yet routinely used in other jurisdictions.

Before I spell out the sequence of events I will briefly outline the control regime that operates in meat plants in Ireland, because there is a degree of confusion in this regard. Under EU law, primary responsibility for safety of food placed on the market lies with food business operators. The role of my Department is to verify compliance with the requirement by food business operators. This is done through a combination of inspection of establishments and audit of the food safety management systems that operators are required to have in place. These controls are applied at different stages of the food supply chain.

It is important to point out that the key controls carried out by my Department under its contract with the Food Safety Authority of Ireland relate to food safety. The matters which were the subject of this investigation did not give rise to food safety concerns. Professor Reilly will speak further on that point.

My Department has a permanent veterinary presence at all of its export-approved slaughter plants. Controls of stand-alone secondary processing plants are carried out at a frequency that is based on a risk assessment conducted each year of every Department-approved meat plant. In addition, EU legislation requires that a multi-annual national control plan is drawn up by food service operators. This sets down a minimum overall number of inspections to be carried out in meat plants. The Department has consistently far exceeded the target we are required to meet in terms of inspections. For example, in 2011 the target was 3,055 inspections while the actual number of inspections conducted was 7,189. It is important to point out that both the Silvercrest and Rangeland food plants were subject to monthly inspection by my Department. In addition, under the Department's national residue programme, up to 30,000 samples, taken at farm and factory level and covering a wide range of foodstuffs, are tested annually. These tests relate to microbiological and chemical standards, their primary focus being on food safety. They are fully in accordance with EU testing requirements.
EU law provides for the free movement of goods between member states. On that basis, meat and meat products produced in an establishment that is approved under the relevant EU regulation can be moved freely within the EU. As is the case for compliance with EU food safety regulations, compliance with traceability requirements rests in the first instance with food service operators. Food business operators in Ireland are responsible for carrying out checks to ensure their ingredients come from EU-approved plants. They must also have a system in place to identify the source of inputs and destination of outputs, referred to as "one step forward and one step back". Those present who are in the food industry will understand exactly what I am talking about.

In primary meat-processing plants that operate under the supervision of my Department, officials conduct audits on the checks carried out by food business operators in order to verify their effectiveness. An annual audit of meat products is carried out in each Department-approved meat plant. The audit includes physical identity, labelling and document checks. This includes product originating in both EU member states and third countries. In addition, labelling and document checks form part of the routine checks conducted by my Department officials. DNA testing is not required under EU legislation and is not generally in use in regard to food production. However, it has been deployed in recent times as part of the FSAI's checks on food authenticity and food fraud control programmes. In that respect it is another new layer of our food production controls. I will speak presently about what we intend to introduce in the not too distant future.

The findings of laboratory tests provided by the FSAI to my Department on 14 January 2013 revealed the presence of equine and porcine DNA in some beef products produced in Ireland. This generally involved trace or minute amounts of porcine or equine DNA, with the exception of one burger in respect of which a high level of equine DNA, representing 29% of the meat in that burger, was indicated. This finding of 29% first became available to the FSAI on 11 January. There was no basis for any action prior to that date. While my Department was requested on 21 December by the FSAI to obtain samples of raw ingredients in the context of preliminary results indicating traces of non-bovine DNA, it was not required to take any other action at that stage. As the FSAI pointed out in its statement of 19 January, where very low levels are detected this is indicative of inadvertent rather than deliberate presence and it would not be declared on the product label. It is also standard practice that preliminary results are subject to a process of confirmatory testing. The FSAI provided my Department with the laboratory results, including the 29% finding, for the first time on 14 January 2013. It is also the case, and worth repeating, that the FSAI has given clear assurances that no food safety issues arise in this instance. However, the incident gave rise to very significant issues in respect of confidence in the quality and description of the products concerned. While the responsibility to investigate and address this incident clearly lies with the company in question, in view of the broader risk to the reputation of Irish food production an official investigation was immediately instigated by my Department in conjunction with the FSAI on receipt of these results.

The objective of the intensive official investigation was to find the root cause of the problem and identify the source of the equine DNA. I will outline briefly the sequence of the investigation. My Department visited the Silvercrest plant on 15 January prior to the publication of the FSAI report. The FSAI told us it would announce the results and therefore we sent people to the factory on Tuesday morning, before that announcement. Preliminary qualitative results relating to samples taken by the Department on Tuesday, 15 January, from product manufactured at Silvercrest Foods during the period 3 to 14 January were published on Thursday, 17 January. In other words, we went in and immediately took as many samples as we could in order to try to establish exactly what we were dealing with and to discover whether the finding of 29% equine DNA in a burger was a freak result or if there was a systematic problem in the plant in terms of horsemeat finding its way into burgers. Thirteen samples of finished burgers from Silvercrest were tested for the presence of equine DNA. Nine tested positive for traces of equine DNA and four tested negative. Seven samples of raw ingredients were also tested, one of which, sourced from another member state, tested positive. Samples of ingredients in burgers sourced from Irish suppliers tested negative for equine DNA, which is consistent with all our testing wherever we conduct tests. All of the burgers in question had already been withdrawn voluntarily from the market. My Department informed the company of these further laboratory test results and the company suspended all production at the plant. The results were fully assessed jointly by Department officials and the FSAI, and arrangements were made to have the positive samples further analysed with a view to quantifying the percentage of non-beef DNA present.

Samples of meat product from Liffey Meats, which was at that time under permanent supervision by my Department, were shown to contain traces of non-bovine DNA in the initial testing. The results of tests on burgers from Liffey Meats, published on 21 January, showed there was no presence of equine DNA in product manufactured between 10 and 16 January. These results supported the company's claims that it had addressed concerns raised by the FSAI survey findings. On the basis of the clear results, and having regard to the fact that the initial FSAI result disclosed only trace levels, my Department indicated that there was noreason to prevent the company from continuing production.

The investigation to identify the source of the high-level DNA finding involved three main components: the taking of samples of burgers and raw materials; analysis of the raw meat ingredients used in particular production batches which were shown to contain equine DNA; and an audit of associated paperwork held by the company. That was not an easy task. I will speak about the management at Silvercrest because people need to understand that.

This was a complex task as one or more ingredients from some 40 suppliers were used in these production batches and ingredients could vary at half hour production intervals. To put matters in context, Silvercrest was producing about 200 million burgers a year but has the capacity to produce twice that. It is not a straightforward process to go in and test ingredients and draw conclusions quickly as some are calling for. There was a mountain of paperwork to go through which our team went through to establish a link between common ingredients for burgers which were testing positive to nail down exactly where the problem was.

Initially, the focus of the investigation was on ingredients identified in the initial Food Safety Authority of Ireland survey results as showing trace equine DNA levels. These were discounted in the early stages of the investigation on the basis of further test results which allowed the conclusion to be drawn that they were certainly not the source of the high level equine DNA finding. If there are only trace elements in an ingredient, it does not explain a 29% content finding in a beefburger. As the investigation progressed, it was possible to systematically sample and test ingredients which appeared to be common to the affected batches. It was a painstaking process. Laboratory capacity constraints, the time required to undertake the analysis and the need to seek confirmation of quantitative laboratory results necessarily prolonged the time needed for the investigation. The sampling process itself was difficult with the need to drill into large frozen blocks of meat multiple times in a systematic way to acquire the necessary sample quantity. I visited Silvercrest quietly to talk to our team who were working there and I witnessed them taking samples. It was a forensic process. If samples are taken incorrectly, inappropriately or with the wrong equipment, it may introduce alien DNA into a product from which an accurate sample is sought. That is why this was a painstaking, difficult and exacting process in respect of which we needed to take our time. It helps to explain why it took us 11 days to get to the bottom of the problem ingredient. The emphasis I place on the process is important because of the need to have certainty about the overall findings of the investigation and to be fair to any supplier that might be implicated by the findings.

With the investigation continuing almost round the clock and over the weekend concerned, there was a major breakthrough late on the night of Friday, 25 January 2013. Test results received overnight showed a significant positive result - 4.1% - for equine DNA in frozen beef trimmings which were labelled as having been imported from Poland as raw material for the production of burgers at Silvercrest. The Department had established that these trimmings were used in the manufacture of burgers which the Department had found to contain significant amounts of equine DNA. The investigation had therefore established for the first time a direct correlation between burgers in which a high level of equine DNA was detected and this raw material product. For obvious reasons, further tests of samples of frozen beef trimmings labelled as being of Polish origin were carried out, the results of which showed positive results of 3.8%, 7.6%, 13.1% and 37.8 %. In total, nine samples of product labelled as Polish frozen beef trimmings were tested, of which five showed significant positive results. The authorities in Poland were informed of these findings.

In the course of the investigation, my Department has organised the testing of over 140 samples of primary products and ingredients for equine DNA. In total, six burgers and seven samples of imported ingredient have tested positive for significant levels of equine DNA. I reiterate that trace or low-level non-bovine DNA is not regarded as significant as pointed out in the Food Safety Authority of Ireland's statement of 19 January 2013, which those of you who have been following this process will have seen. All of the commercial documents and payment records available to my Department and pertaining to the consignments in question at that point indicated that the product was shipped directly from Poland, although in one case the order was made through a trader based in the UK. The findings allowed the conclusion to be drawn that the raw material in question was the source of equine DNA introduced into burgers manufactured at Silvercrest. It was also clear on the basis of tests on samples taken from Irish food ingredients, which were negative, that the integrity of Irish-sourced product was not compromised. It is important to note that we met the Tesco team investigating what happened and the results we were finding were very much in parallel with Tesco's suspicions and subsequent findings. It is a testament to those attending with me that it was our team that got to the source of the problem first by way of a rigorous investigation and the testing systems we used. In the light of our conclusions, the meat industry was alerted to the need to check the integrity of their suppliers and the Department continued to inquire as to whether other plants may have sourced similar product of the type that went to Silvercrest and which has caused significant problems.

Late on Thursday evening, 31 January 2013, Rangeland Foods notified the Department due to the suspicion of the presence of equine DNA of its use of Polish meat ingredients in the manufacture of certain burger lines. The Department took samples of the material concerned from the plant on Friday, 1 February 2013, to test for the presence of equine DNA and received the results yesterday. Of the three samples taken, two showed a positive result of 75% equine DNA in product described as frozen beef trimmings and labelled as being of Polish origin. However, in this case the raw material was imported through a meat trader based in Ireland. Product which is held by the Food Standards Agency in Northern Ireland from the same trader who was due to supply it to Silvercrest is also suspected of having equine DNA present. I think a statement was made by the agency to that effect last night. Production has been voluntarily suspended at Rangeland Foods pending the outcome of the investigation. The company has indicated that none of the implicated product has entered the food chain and that only Irish product is used for outlets in Ireland. Obviously, that claim will have to be verified by the investigation we are conducting. My Department’s inspectors have been in the plant since last Friday and, subject to confirmation of the position, we hope to be able to make a further statement about possible resumption of production soon. That is subject to being able to give the plant the all-clear.

In the meantime, the investigation is focusing on the full supply chain including those who facilitated the purchase of the product and its transfer to users in Ireland. On the basis of the information available to my Department, no other producer of burgers in Ireland has used any imported product of the type which showed positive for equine DNA. There are only two other burger manufacturers, neither of which has used the product. The Department is in continuing contact with the Polish authorities as the investigation has shown that all implicated raw material ingredient is labelled as Polish product. We have invited the Polish veterinary authorities to Ireland should they consider it necessary to examine the product and accompanying documentation.

Arising from yesterday's results indicating a high level of equine DNA and the additional complexity of the supply chain, as well as the facts uncovered in the investigation at Silvercrest and inquiries in Northern Ireland, I ordered the involvement of my Department's special investigation unit and also asked the Garda to join the investigation team last night.

From the point of view of preserving the integrity and reputation of the Irish food industry, it is particularly important that the investigation be carried out in a thorough, prompt, secure and transparent manner. Significant resources have been deployed by my Department and the FSAI, initially to find the source of this food incident so that consumers can be fully reassured, and now also to consider whether fraudulent or criminal activity was involved. I trust members of the committee will appreciate that I need to avoid saying anything that might prejudice the outcome of the investigation now under way in respect of potential fraudulent or criminal activity. I can assure the committee that whether it applies to factories, processing facilities, meat traders or an original meat source, if there is fraudulent activity we intend to expose it fully. That is why involving the Garda and the experience of the fraud squad will be very useful.

In the bio-sector, incidents such as this will occur, and it is important to adapt our procedures where necessary in the light of experience gained. We will do so again in this case. I have already met with the meat industry in this regard and will perhaps return to this committee at a later date to discuss the kinds of measure we should put in place when we have learned lessons from the full facts once we have established them.

It is vitally important in investigations of the type that is under way to avoid speculation and a knee-jerk reaction. Decisions that may have a fundamental impact on parties involved should be based on well-founded conclusions. My focus has been on identifying and isolating the root cause of this problem so that a recurrence can be avoided. My aim throughout has been to ensure everything possible is done to restore full consumer confidence in the meat sector. This includes taking whatever action is required to rectify matters, and ensuring that we continue to adopt the highest standards of quality and safety in our meat industry.

I cannot comment in detail on decisions taken by large customers of Irish meat processors as a result of this issue, but I have been in direct contact with some of the major customers who have been affected by this incident. They have been briefed on the conduct of the investigation that led to the identification of the source of equine DNA and on everything else that we have been doing. I trust that the manner in which we have addressed this issue will help maintain their confidence in Irish food, as they are international buyers of our product. The way in which the Silvercrest facility had been managed in its relationship with significant buyers of Irish product left a lot to be desired. People involved let themselves down, let their company down and let the Irish food industry down. It should not have happened. Even with that bad management, the DNA testing we introduced uncovered the presence of equine DNA in meat. There are other issues around bad management in terms of the contracts Silvercrest had with companies it was supplying that have led to a break in the relationship between Silvercrest and those companies. As the committee has read in the media in the past week or so, that has arisen because of a complete breakdown of trust, which should never have happened, and it is unfortunate that it did.

I have asked Bord Bia to maintain constant contact with our export markets to reassure markets that there is no food safety issue here and that the issue has been dealt with swiftly, appropriately and thoroughly by the Irish authorities. Thankfully, all the indications are that this incident has had no discernible effect on markets outside Ireland and the UK.

As I indicated in my opening remarks, our agrifood sector is hugely important. It has been the jewel in the crown of our recovering economy in recent times. The sector has shown itself to be resilient in previous crises and I believe that we can again collectively overcome the current challenge, restore consumer confidence and retain the pre-eminent position that Irish food occupies in world markets. I look forward to the committee's questions and will try to make my answers as detailed and accurate as I can.