Bernard Matthews to resume turkey trade
Bernard Matthews is to resume trucking turkey meat between the UK and Hungary from midnight tonight (Friday, 16 February) having been given the “all clear” by the Food Standards Agency.
The company voluntarily suspended shipments a week ago, when epidemiological studies showed that the H5N1 virus found in turkey sheds at its Holton, Suffolk site was identical to the virus found on two goose farms in Hungary.
This suggested that the source of infection was most likely to be imports of contaminated meat, rather than spread by migrating birds.
But an investigation into the Hungarian connection by the FSA, DEFRA and the Health Protection Agency published today concludes that “there is no evidence that any meat entered the UK food chain from the restricted zones in Hungary”.
“If it had been discovered that meat exported from Hungary to the UK had come from inside an avian influenza restricted zone, this would have been illegal under EU law,” said a statement.
Alex Simmons of the FSA told journalists that this conclusion was based on a detailed study of Bernard Matthews import documents and on movement documents submitted by the Hungarian authorities.
Deputy chief vet Fred Landeg added that, even though Bernard Matthews had acted lawfully, infection by contaminated imports was still “the most plausible hypothesis”.
An interim epidemiological report by DEFRA identified a number of bio-security weaknesses which might have allowed H5N1 to pass from the processing facility at the Holton site into the adjacent turkey sheds.
“Pest control reports for the whole premises on 10 and 24 January comment that there had been an ongoing problem of gulls on uncovered waste bins and of them roosting on the finishing units,” it said.
“Gulls were observed feeding on trimmings and carrying them away from the processing plant and into the area containing the finishing units.”
Dr Landeg said it was possible that wild birds had then got into the turkey sheds, or perhaps rats. “The sheds were not vermin proof.”
He added that, while the epidemiological studies were continuing in co-operation with the Hungarian authorities and the EU Commission, it was possible that the exact cause of the H5N1 outbreak may never be known.