Meat from cows slaughtered in a Polish abattoir is being withdrawn from the food chain in 12 EU member states, after undercover footage filmed in the abattoir found that the cows did not undergo the proper veterinary inspections at the abattoir and were found to be unfit for human consumption.

The meat was exported to 12 other EU member states: Estonia, Finland, France, Hungary, Lithuania, Latvia, Portugal, Romania, Spain, Sweden, Germany and Slovakia.

A spokesperson for the European Commission said that the withdrawal and destruction of the meat from the market is ongoing.

The European Commission is also in close contact with the Polish authorities, who are currently investigating the case.

“At the request of the Commission, Poland triggered, on 29 January, the Rapid Alert System for Food and Feed (RASFF) and informed the member states. As a result, the meat could be traced and withdrawals are ongoing.

“Polish authorities informed the Commission that the plant has been closed,” the spokesperson said.

Euronews reports that the cows were dragged into the abattoir, undergoing little or no veterinary inspections.

In response, a Commission spokesperson told the Irish Farmers Journal that the practice of dragging animals that are unable to walk, as described in the Euronews article, is forbidden by the EU legislation on the protection of animals at slaughterhouses.

Food safety commissioner

Reacting to the news, European Commissioner for Health and Food Safety Vytenis Andriukaitis said: “My services are in permanent contact with Polish authorities. I am following this case closely and I asked the inspectors in my team to be in Poland as of Monday and assess the situation on the ground.

“The priority today is to trace and withdraw from the market all the products originated from this slaughterhouse. I call on the member states affected to take a swift action.

“At the same time, I urge the Polish authorities to finalise as a matter of urgency their investigations, taking all the necessary measures to ensure the respect of the EU legislation including effective, rapid and dissuasive penalties against the perpetrators of such a criminal behaviour that could pose risk to public health and portrays an unacceptable treatment of animals,” he said.

Rules

Under EU law, before being slaughtered, all animals have to undergo an ante-mortem inspection (investigation of the live animal) in the presence of the official veterinarian.

All animals also must also undergo a postmortem inspection (inspection of the carcase) by or under the responsibility of the official veterinarian.

It is also the law that animals cannot be declared fit for human consumption if they are affected by animal diseases for which animal health rules apply, if they are affected by a generalised disease or if they constitute a public or animal health risk.

All meat destined for human consumption for which there is no full assurance of compliance with EU rules must be taken immediately off the market, especially when there is no certainty that it does not pose an animal health or public health risk, the Commission said.