Turkish ministry denies reports of mad cow disease diagnosis in imported meat from Poland

ANKARA

The Turkish Food, Agriculture, and Livestock Ministry has denied recent reports that beef imported from Poland during 2011-2012 contained bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE), commonly known as mad cow disease.

The ministry said in a statement that “the imported meats belonged to cattle younger than 30 months old, which are not scientifically in the risk group in terms of BSE,” state-run Anadolu Agency said on May 27.

“Within the context of the investigation, there is no analysis report that shows a sign of BSE, and so far, in the meat imported from Poland, EU countries, and other countries, no diagnosis of BSE disease have been made,” the ministry said.

It has also indicated that veterinarians assigned by the ministry, as per the international rules, were present before, during, and after the slaughter process of the cattle in Poland in 2011 and 2012.

The ministry said the news broke after slaughterhouses in Poland filed complaints against each other and Polish authorities requested Turkey to give information regarding the incident. But in the relevant correspondences between the two countries there was no indication of mad cow disease diagnosis in the imported meat, the ministry said.

“Within the context of the investigation [run by Poland], [Polish authorities] have appealed to our veterinarians’ testimonies and asked us about forgery in documents as well as the procedures. And our veterinary doctors said the issue might require a criminal investigation, therefore did not have information, and the addressee of the question should be the Polish side,” the ministry said.