Polish Authorities Recall Food Tainted with Road Salt
Polish officials have reportedly withdrawn from commerce more than 500,000 pounds of food possibly contaminated with industrial salt intended for de-icing roads in winter conditions. According to media sources, Poland’s Central Bureau of Investigation has arrested five individuals accused of selling road salt to food processors for use in dairy, fish, meat, and baked goods. The Chief Sanitary Inspectorate (GIS) has since identified the non-iodized salt, which contains “minimal” levels of dioxin and heavy metals, at 48 different locations, but has reportedly emphasized the overall low risk to human health. “It can be concluded with a very high probability that the amounts of these compounds per 100 g of the food products do not pose a health hazard,” one GIS investigator was quoted as saying. See Polskie Radio, February 27 and March 7, 2012; Warsaw Business Journal, March 5, 2012; EurActiv.com, March 7, 2012.
Despite this finding and the precautionary recall, the arrests have apparently raised concerns among trade partners over the safety of Polish food exports. At a March 9, 2012, meeting, Polish Agriculture Minister Marek Sawicki hastened to reassure the Czech Republic’s ambassador, Jan Sechter, that the food producers in question fell victim to business fraud and that “all necessary tests had been conducted and Polish food was safe,” with “no grounds to be concerned with consumers’ health or product quality.” See Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development News Release, March 9, 2012.
