How do the toxins get into the food chain?
They break down very slowly, meaning they remain in the environment for a long time. They can be absorbed through the skin or eaten in food. The contaminants can accumulate in fatty tissues in animals. Which Irish products could be contaminated? Pork meat, bacon rashers, pork sausages, sausage meat, gammon steaks, offal from pigs, salami, ham, sausage rolls, black pudding, white pudding, ready meals with Irish pork/bacon as an ingredient, pizzas with ham toppings. How did the contamination occur? Animal feed, from one source, which tested positive for dioxins, was distributed to a number of pig farms in both the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland and fed to the pigs. In addition to the pig farms that used the contaminated feed, authorities are testing a further 37 cattle farms, although they say the risk from beef is minimal as cattle are fed mainly on grass. Is there much contaminated pork in mainland Britain? Some some supermarkets, including Waitrose and Lidl, have taken certa
