milk in south cyprus
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milk in south cyprus
by roseandchan » Tue Jun 03, 2008 11:31 am
can anyone tell me whats happening with milk? yesterday people in village all told me that there is a problem with the greek cyprus milk. something they had seen in the newspaper.just happen to have a couple of pints in the fridge so i need to know as i'm about to make icecream with it.
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Re: milk in south cyprus
by Bill » Tue Jun 03, 2008 11:37 am
roseandchan wrote:can anyone tell me whats happening with milk? yesterday people in village all told me that there is a problem with the greek cyprus milk. something they had seen in the newspaper.just happen to have a couple of pints in the fridge so i need to know as i'm about to make icecream with it.
Did you buy it in the south ?
If not there's no worries then
Bill
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by roseandchan » Tue Jun 03, 2008 11:47 am
yes bill got it in the south, milk in north is not good i have to admit.
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by JimB » Tue Jun 03, 2008 12:14 pm
Only thing I could find is this taken from todays Mail (internet edition).
Initial tests give all clear for milk
By Alexia Saoulli
THE HEALTH Minister said yesterday that preliminary tests on pasteurised milk had shown that carcinogenic aflatoxin levels were within permissible levels.
Samples taken from local ice cream had also come back clean, while tests on other dairy products on the market were still pending.
Agriculture Minister Michalis Polynikis, who assured consumers the government was doing everything to trace the root of the problem from the animal feed right up to production, said the aflatoxin found so far in the samples taken were within permissible levels.
Polynikis was speaking to reporters following a three-hour meeting at the Agriculture Ministry with all relevant services including the state lab, the health services, the agriculture department and the milk industry organisation.
Polynikis said that from the 54 out of 230 dairy farms that had initially tested positive for aflatoxins “we have seen a gradual reduction and a few moments ago I was informed that all without exception are under the permissible limit.”
He added that scientists had examined 14 production units that were taking milk from the 54 contaminated farms. In the three that were producing pasteurised milk, as well as in another eight units, zero aflatoxin levels were found, while three other units had borderline levels and were being submitted to further tests.
Asked if there was any guarantee that contaminated products had not made it onto the market, he said: '' All pasteurised milk going onto the market is checked and we have not found any problematic samples.”
Last week, elevated levels of aflatoxin M1 were found in milk at dairy farms across the island. The infected milk is believed to have been produced after cattle ingested imported animal feed already contaminated with the toxin.
With the aflatoxin found through routine checks that test for the specific toxin every three or four months, the concern is that a contaminated animal feed batch may have been fed to the animals and found its way into the system before it was detected.
Animal feed importers have blamed farmers for failing to store the food properly, allowing the toxin, which is often present in the feed at acceptable levels, to accumulate. But the Cattle Farmers’ Association yesterday denied their members were to blame and demanded compensation for loss of revenue from the Agriculture Ministry. The association also demanded that authorities pinpoint the guilty batch soon so that they could know where the problem had originated from.
The latest health scare is expected to hit the industry hard as consumers are already afraid to purchase local dairy products including milk and by-products.
Meanwhile, investigations yesterday forked in two directions. One, to trace the source of the imported animal feed and two, to determine to what extent milk contaminated with aflatoxin had been used to process dairy products.
Four tonnes of milk have been withheld pending further tests for aflatoxin levels, as have 3,700 kilos of dairy products and all suspect batches of animal feed.
Veterinary Services head Charalambos Kakoyiannis said the 3,700 kilos of dairy products had been seized for “clearly preventative reasons”.
He said the suspect products concerned halloumi with borderline levels of aflatoxin. The batch was found after samples were tested from 35 batches of dairy products.
Kakoyiannis assured consumers that if any of the products tested positive for elevated levels of aflatoxin during a second round of tests, they would be immediately destroyed.
“They will be destroyed. There is no doubt about it. There is no way they will get out on to the market and consumed,” he said.
The head of Public Health Services George Giorgallas also confirmed the health services had extended their inspections to all dairy products on the market including pasteurised milk, ice cream, feta cheese, halloumi and anari.
Meanwhile, tests at poultry and pig farms were also launched yesterday to ensure none of the contaminated animal feed had ended up there. Chicken and pig farmers reacted strongly to the tests, claiming no one had officially informed them about why their farms were being inspected and that the only information they received was from news reports.
Copyright © Cyprus Mail 2008
Initial tests give all clear for milk
By Alexia Saoulli
THE HEALTH Minister said yesterday that preliminary tests on pasteurised milk had shown that carcinogenic aflatoxin levels were within permissible levels.
Samples taken from local ice cream had also come back clean, while tests on other dairy products on the market were still pending.
Agriculture Minister Michalis Polynikis, who assured consumers the government was doing everything to trace the root of the problem from the animal feed right up to production, said the aflatoxin found so far in the samples taken were within permissible levels.
Polynikis was speaking to reporters following a three-hour meeting at the Agriculture Ministry with all relevant services including the state lab, the health services, the agriculture department and the milk industry organisation.
Polynikis said that from the 54 out of 230 dairy farms that had initially tested positive for aflatoxins “we have seen a gradual reduction and a few moments ago I was informed that all without exception are under the permissible limit.”
He added that scientists had examined 14 production units that were taking milk from the 54 contaminated farms. In the three that were producing pasteurised milk, as well as in another eight units, zero aflatoxin levels were found, while three other units had borderline levels and were being submitted to further tests.
Asked if there was any guarantee that contaminated products had not made it onto the market, he said: '' All pasteurised milk going onto the market is checked and we have not found any problematic samples.”
Last week, elevated levels of aflatoxin M1 were found in milk at dairy farms across the island. The infected milk is believed to have been produced after cattle ingested imported animal feed already contaminated with the toxin.
With the aflatoxin found through routine checks that test for the specific toxin every three or four months, the concern is that a contaminated animal feed batch may have been fed to the animals and found its way into the system before it was detected.
Animal feed importers have blamed farmers for failing to store the food properly, allowing the toxin, which is often present in the feed at acceptable levels, to accumulate. But the Cattle Farmers’ Association yesterday denied their members were to blame and demanded compensation for loss of revenue from the Agriculture Ministry. The association also demanded that authorities pinpoint the guilty batch soon so that they could know where the problem had originated from.
The latest health scare is expected to hit the industry hard as consumers are already afraid to purchase local dairy products including milk and by-products.
Meanwhile, investigations yesterday forked in two directions. One, to trace the source of the imported animal feed and two, to determine to what extent milk contaminated with aflatoxin had been used to process dairy products.
Four tonnes of milk have been withheld pending further tests for aflatoxin levels, as have 3,700 kilos of dairy products and all suspect batches of animal feed.
Veterinary Services head Charalambos Kakoyiannis said the 3,700 kilos of dairy products had been seized for “clearly preventative reasons”.
He said the suspect products concerned halloumi with borderline levels of aflatoxin. The batch was found after samples were tested from 35 batches of dairy products.
Kakoyiannis assured consumers that if any of the products tested positive for elevated levels of aflatoxin during a second round of tests, they would be immediately destroyed.
“They will be destroyed. There is no doubt about it. There is no way they will get out on to the market and consumed,” he said.
The head of Public Health Services George Giorgallas also confirmed the health services had extended their inspections to all dairy products on the market including pasteurised milk, ice cream, feta cheese, halloumi and anari.
Meanwhile, tests at poultry and pig farms were also launched yesterday to ensure none of the contaminated animal feed had ended up there. Chicken and pig farmers reacted strongly to the tests, claiming no one had officially informed them about why their farms were being inspected and that the only information they received was from news reports.
Copyright © Cyprus Mail 2008
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by roseandchan » Tue Jun 03, 2008 1:07 pm
thanks for that , just made the choc icecream so not to worry then will just enjoy.
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by roseandchan » Tue Jun 03, 2008 2:50 pm
sorry webbo it will melt on my drive south. its the boarder controls fault too slow
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by webbo » Tue Jun 03, 2008 3:14 pm
roseandchan wrote:sorry webbo it will melt on my drive south. its the boarder controls fault too slow
That is ok, we actually had a lovely ice-cream yesterday in Nicosia. We both had double scoops (It was HOT people ok!) Whilst Webbo had lemon and whatever, I had lemon and blackcherry. Gorgeous! The Greek work for blackcherry was a new word for me and I thought I had memorised it, alas, in the heat of the midday sun, my memory failed! Anyone help please? I cannot find it in my dictionary anyway!
Sure it started something like mau.....................!
Bubbles x
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