Willie Penrose (Longford-Westmeath, Labour)
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552. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine the procedures put in place by his Department to deal with Clostridium Esterthetitm which is an agent of spoilage in meat one of the causes and agents of blown pack spoilage, which represents a significant commercial loss to meat processors; and if there is an established framework put in place, which can deal with such outbreak; if there is a particular body or person, who industry personnel can contact; if he will indicate the level of losses associated with such incidences; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [19024/13]

Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)
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Clostridium estertheticum spoilage is a food quality issue rather than a food safety matter. The EU Food Hygiene regulations which are the principal basis of our food safety system do not cover food quality issues and do not mention food spoilage or this organism. Accordingly this is not a focus of official controls in approved meat plants and in the circumstances responsibility for dealing with the matter rests with industry.

In October 2009 Teagasc published a report on the Control of Blown Package Spoilage in Vacuum Packaged Meat. This report concluded that: "Blown pack spoilage (BPS) represents a significant commercial loss to Irish meat processors. This research discovered that the organisms causing BPS are ubiquitous in the abattoir environment, making eradication very difficult. The risk of BPS is best managed through a process of regular treatment of plant and equipment with a sporicidal agent such as peroxyacetic acid, good hygiene to minimise carcass contamination and removal of the heat shrinkage stage during vacuum packaging as this activates the spores and reduces the time to spoilage."

The report provides guidance to industry on minimising the risk of this problem. The research, which was funded by my Department and carried out by Teagasc, discovered a new Blown Pack Spoilage Clostridia species (C. ruminantium); delivered key data and demonstrated the detrimental effect of vacuum packaging heat shrinkage in spore activation. As a result of this work,Teagasc's food research centre in Ashtown, Co. Dublin developed a PCR assay to detect the problem and is now offering a testing service to the meat industry and other food industries.

In addition, my Department is about to fund a new research project which will include an investigation of issues associated with C. estertheticum and to develop and validate a rapid real time PCR assay capable of detecting and enumerating C. estertheticum,C. gasigenes and C. ruminantium .