§ Mr. LidingtonTo ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will make a statement about the incidence and the levels of nitrofurans detected in poultry meat imported from Brazil. [77823]
§ Ms BlearsBetween 1 January 2002 and 14 October 2002, the United Kingdom is aware that 19 rapid alerts, sent via the EU's rapid alert system for food and feed, have been issued regarding the detection of nitrofurans510W in 28 samples of Brazilian poultry meat. The average level of nitrofuran metabolites in the samples was 26µg/kg. Five samples exceeded 50µg/kg with the highest level being 120µg/kg for the nitrofuran metabolite AMOZ. Residues of nitrofurans should not be present at any level in food. No conclusion can be drawn regarding the frequency of contamination, as there is no data on how many samples of Brazilian poultry meat have been the subject of testing.