Ireland has issued an international warning for people not to consume Irish-produced pork products because they could contain dangerous levels of contaminants.
The government’s departments of health and agriculture on Saturday jointly called for the recall or destruction of all Irish pork produced since Sept. 1 after discovering potentially dangerous dioxins in pigs and pig feed at 80 to 200 times the safety limit.
Dioxins, which are naturally occurring and can enter an animal’s system through its food or environment, accumulate in the pig’s fat. If ingested by humans at sufficient volume, they have been linked to an increased risk of cancer.
In a statement, the office of Irish Prime Minister Brian Cowen said officials from the Agriculture Department and the Food Safety Authority of Ireland were still investigating “the extent of the contamination and to identify the processors and products involved.”
The order dealt the biggest blow to Irish agriculture since the foot-and-mouth disease threat of 2001, when Ireland successfully prevented the spread of the disease from neighboring Britain — but still faced months of lost export business for its beef because of foreign fears.
This time, the government’s warning that Irish pork may have been tainted for months threatens a pig industry worth more than 450 million euros (US$600 million) annually in this country of 4.2 million.
The government asked grocery stores, pubs and restaurants in Ireland to ship back all Irish pork products to their manufacturers as part of the investigation and asked the public “as a precautionary measure not to consume Irish pork and bacon products at this time.”
Ireland’s farms produce more than 3 million pigs a year, nearly half of which are consumed within the Republic of Ireland. But Irish pork is also heavily exported to neighboring Northern Ireland and Britain and appears in grocery stores and processed meats through much of Europe and Asia.
Last year Ireland exported 113,000 tonnes of pig meat, nearly half of that to the UK. Ireland also shipped more than 500,000 live pigs to the UK for slaughter and processing there.
NEXT GENERATION: The four plants in the Central Taiwan Science Park, designated Fab 25, would consist of four 1.4-nanometer wafer manufacturing plants, TSMC said Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) plans to begin construction of four new plants later this year, with the aim to officially launch production of 2-nanometer semiconductor wafers by late 2028, Central Taiwan Science Park Bureau director-general Hsu Maw-shin (許茂新) said. Hsu made the announcement at an event on Friday evening celebrating the Central Taiwan Science Park’s 22nd anniversary. The second phase of the park’s expansion would commence with the initial construction of water detention ponds and other structures aimed at soil and water conservation, Hsu said. TSMC has officially leased the land, with the Central Taiwan Science Park having handed over the
AUKUS: The Australian Ambassador to the US said his country is working with the Pentagon and he is confident that submarine issues will be resolved Australian Ambassador to the US Kevin Rudd on Friday said that if Taiwan were to fall to China’s occupation, it would unleash China’s military capacities and capabilities more broadly. He also said his country is working with the Pentagon on the US Department of Defense’s review of the AUKUS submarine project and is confident that all issues raised will be resolved. Rudd, who served as Australian prime minister from 2007 to 2010 and for three months in 2013, made the remarks at the Aspen Security Forum in Colorado and stressed the longstanding US-Australia alliance and his close relationship with the US Undersecretary
‘WORLD WAR III’: Republican Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene said the aid would inflame tensions, but her amendment was rejected 421 votes against six The US House of Representatives on Friday passed the Department of Defense Appropriations Act for fiscal 2026, which includes US$500 million for Taiwan. The bill, which totals US$831.5 billion in discretionary spending, passed in a 221-209 vote. According to the bill, the funds for Taiwan would be administered by the US Defense Security Cooperation Agency and would remain available through Sept. 30, 2027, for the Taiwan Security Cooperation Initiative. The legislation authorizes the US Secretary of Defense, with the agreement of the US Secretary of State, to use the funds to assist Taiwan in procuring defense articles and services, and military training. Republican Representative
TAIWAN IS TAIWAN: US Representative Tom Tiffany said the amendment was not controversial, as ‘Taiwan is not — nor has it ever been — part of Communist China’ The US House of Representatives on Friday passed an amendment banning the US Department of Defense from creating, buying or displaying any map that shows Taiwan as part of the People’s Republic of China (PRC). The “Honest Maps” amendment was approved in a voice vote on Friday as part of the Department of Defense Appropriations Act for the 2026 fiscal year. The amendment prohibits using any funds from the act to create, buy or display maps that show Taiwan, Kinmen, Matsu, Penghu, Wuciou (烏坵), Green Island (綠島) or Orchid Island (Lanyu, 蘭嶼) as part of the PRC. The act includes US$831.5 billion in