Food Inspectors Find Salmonella-tainted Brazilian Meat in Bratislava

Bratislava, March 31 (TASR) – Slovak veterinary inspectors have found Brazilian meat tainted with salmonella in Bratislava, Agriculture and Rural Development Minister Gabriela Matecna (a Slovak National Party/SNS nominee), Health Minister Tomas Drucker (a Smer-SD nominee) and State Veterinary and Food Directorate general director Jozef Bires reported at a joint press conference on Friday.

“As much as 21,000 kilograms of this spoiled Brazilian meat was imported into Slovakia via the Netherlands and Poland. Our veterinary inspectors immediately ordered this meat to be withdrawn, as it had been distributed to as many as 54 restaurants throughout the country. Considering the serious nature of this situation, we decided along with Minister Drucker to appeal to Slovak consumers to remember that we have only one state of health, so we should invest in it, instead of looking only at prices,” said the agriculture minister.

As part of preventive measures, the Slovak Agriculture Ministry immediately halted the sale of Brazilian meat in the country. Meanwhile, Matecna announced that inspectors have checked 341 products so far.

“The laboratory tests to date have discovered 17 irregular items. One of the Brazilian products – ‘SEARA-Frozen Chicken Breast, Boneless, Skinless and without Inner Fillet, Salted’ in two-kilogram packs, produced by Agricola Jadelle – was found to contain Salmonella Heidelberg. We’re continuing to perform inspections, focusing mainly on entities with warehouses that are engaged in relatively large-scale trade in this commodity, supplying it to restaurants and end consumers,” said Bires.

Slovak inspectors so far haven’t found any of the chemical substances that were allegedly used in Brazil to mask rotten meat.