Recently banned products from EU currently safe

16 March 2001

Recently banned products from EU currently on NZ shelves safe

Recently banned products from the European Union currently on the shelves of New Zealand supermarkets are safe for consumers to eat.

These products have been processed and brought into the country prior to the foot and mouth disease outbreak in the UK and the European Union.

Very little meat and dairy products come into New Zealand from the European Union. Most of what does come in are small goods along the lines of fancy cheeses, salami and processed pork products. These are usually found in the deli section of your local supermarket.

New Zealand has not imported commercial consignments of meat from the UK in more than 10 years. What little product does come in, such as salami and cheeses is usually with passengers entering at the border. MAF Quarantine staff are confiscating all risk goods at the country’s international borders.

Commercially manufactured or home-made confectionery, bread, biscuits and cakes containing dairy and egg ingredients may continue to be imported. Cooked meat products can be imported provided that they are commercially packaged within cans or glass containers. Canned vegetables and fruit are acceptable also.

Foot and mouth disease has no known human health affects. The virus is killed by high temperatures, so processing and thorough cooking take care of it. The reason the disease is so devastating is because it is highly contagious amongst cloven hoofed animals and animal production is decreased. Overseas markets will no longer accept the infected countries meat and meat exports.

Meat processing stops as soon as a region is identified as having foot and mouth as a ban on the movement of animals is put in place.

MAF has stopped any goods from entering New Zealand, which have been derived from cloven-hoofed animals. This includes all meat and meat products, embryos and semen, pet food additives for further processing, deer and elk velvet, dairy products and live animals.

ENDS

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