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Tuesday 16 December 2014

Finns find Danish pork with MRSA - and half admit they have it too.


Finnish TV report on finding MRSA contaminated Danish pork on Finnish supermarket shelves and the differing reactions of the two supermarkets.

The very last sentence seems to suggest that the Finnish government Food Standards are following the British formula:

We have made sure we have not found it in our pigs, so we haven't got it, or maybe we have and expect to get caught!

It is almost, what used to be called, in happier days, an 'Ealing comedy.'

Finnish TV here, be sure to read in full, taking account that it is a mechanical translation to English.

News 15.12.2014 11:37 | updated 16.12.2014 9:53

S-Group guarded on super bacteria found in imported pork products

A representative of the food retail duopolist S-Group has played down. concerns about the MRSA super bacteria found in pork products imported into Finland. The food safety watchdog Evira found the antibiotic-resistant bug in meat products on sale at outlets across
the capital area.

An Yle check found that the S-Group's Prisma supermarket in Espoo is stocked with Danish Christmas hams, some of which were found to contain the difficult-to-treat MRSA bacterium.

The matter came to light when journalists from Yle's investigative TV programme MOT and its Swedish-language in-depth reportage programme Spotlight tested 25 packages of pork products from different parts of the greater Helsinki area...

...Immediately following the disclosures, Kesko, Finland's other main food retailer, announced that it was recalling the entire batch of pork products from supermarket shelves...

...S Group "won't necessarily take any action"...

...When MOT reporters pointed out that the decision could mean that consumers would be at risk of purchasing hams containing the stubborn bacteria, Ristaniemi responded:
"That's quite possible. We don't see it as a food safety risk," she added...

...MOT's journalists found no evidence of MRSA bacteria in Finnish meat products, however Evira said it would not rule out the possibility that the super bacteria could also be present in domestic meat. The food safety authority estimated that MRSA could be found in 15 percent of Finnish pig farms.