'Contaminated feed could still be in the system'.

Byline: Jacqueline Theodoulou

ANIMAL food contaminated with carcinogenic aflatoxin M1 could still be circulating in the market, according to the head of the Veterinary Services.

Charalambos Kakoyiannis made the admission during a meeting of the House Agriculture Committee yesterday, at which deputies sought to get to the root of the problem that has led to the confiscation of tonnes of contaminated milk.

Kakoyiannis said that during recent checks, "a problem was spotted in farms that were previously considered clean, which leads to the conclusion that the source of the problem, which is the animal food, is still there".

But he also pointed out that recent checks on pasteurised milk had come back clear.

During the meeting, spokesmen of the various implicated bodies analysed the procedures that had been followed from the moment the problem appeared until now and everyone said procedures had been followed correctly and checking mechanisms a" provided by law and EU regulations a" were in place.

However, cattle and livestock farmers said the problem would have been dealt with immediately if the specific animal feed had been spotted from the start and withdrawn.

They also asked for compensation for the damage suffered from the destruction of 170 tonnes of milk worth around [euro]160,000.

Deputies and spokesmen for agricultural organisations had a series of queries on the way testing had been carried out when animal feed arrived on the island, and many blamed insufficient checking systems for the whole affair.

According to the Head of the Agriculture Ministry's Agriculture Department, Christodoulos Photiou, animal food imported from third countries is checked with random samples. However, he admitted that the system did need improvement.

Photiou explained it was impossible to check an entire container, which was why there were random checks, first as the cargo was offloaded from the ships and then when it was loaded onto the trucks to be distributed.

From the beginning of 2008 until June 2, the Agriculture Department checked 102 containers of animal feed, 52 of which were imported from third countries and the rest from the EU.

"In the first container of maize that arrived from India in April, an aflatoxin check showed that there were three parts [of aflatoxin] per billion, when the acceptable EU level is 20 parts per billion," Photiou explained.

Similarly, the container that followed had 2.5 parts per billion. But then Photiou's Department received a call from the Veterinary Services saying high levels of aflatoxin had been found on seven cow farms.

"Checks were carried out in warehouses and commercial mills, and where problematic samples were spotted, the entire quantity was confiscated," he explained. These quantities of animal feed originated from the two aforementioned containers, though in some the maize had been mixed with other foods, such as soya and pepper.

Veterinary Services head Charalambos Kakoyiannis said his officials had informed the Agriculture Department and Health Services as soon as the problem was spotted.

"In the end, 54 samples were found to be contaminated with aflatoxin, while contaminated quantities of milk and dairy products found on the seven affected cow farms were confiscated," said Kakoyiannis.

The head of the Health Services, George Georgalas, said his department would continue to check the market and make immediate announcements when any problems were spotted.

Out of the 55 products that samples were taken, he added, the results for 27 had come back and the only problems spotted were in the yoghurts of two companies, which were immediately withdrawn.

The Director of the State Laboratory, Stella Michaelidou, informed deputies that of the 87 samples of milk, yoghurts, ice creams and other dairy products sent for analysis, 75 had already been examined. Six farms tested positive for the carcinogenic toxin.

When the head of the Cattle Farmers' Association took his turn to speak, his exasperation was evident: "If the Agriculture Minister was aware of the first contaminated container, he should have immediately publicised the importer's name," said Nicos Papakyriacou.

"From April 19 until May 23 when the first checks were carried out, the entire container could have already been sold off," he added.

Papakyriacou claimed serious shortcomings in checks carried out at Larnaca Port and asked for immediate compensation to cow farmers who were made to destroy so many tons of infected milk.

His demand for compensation was backed by all agricultural organisations, with farmers' union spokesman Andreas Alexandrou pointing out: "If the Agriculture Department was saying that the controversial container of animal food was clean, then checks were insufficient and those who carried them out are to blame."

DISY deputy Kyriacos Hadjiyiannis said there was a need for better checking systems, while Fidias Sarikas of EDEK repeated his party's demand for a Consumer Protection Commissioner.

"The names of the importers should have been announced from the very first day," Sarikas insisted.

Copyright [c] Cyprus Mail 2008

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