Slovakia imposes stricter checks on beef imported from Poland

Slovakia has decided to slap checks on beef imports from Poland after veterinarians in the neighbouring Czech Republic found the dangerous salmonella bacteria in a batch of Polish meat.

Every Polish beef consignment will now have to pass lab tests before hitting the Slovak market.

“I won’t allow the failures of Polish authorities to repeatedly endanger our consumers,” Slovak Agriculture Minister Gabriela Matecna said in a statement.

“The state food and veterinary administration will therefore check all consignments of Polish meat until further notice.”

Matecna ordered the chief veterinarian to implement the emergency measures days after Czech veterinarians found salmonella, which can cause food poisoning, in a 700-kilogramme (1,500-pound) batch of Polish beef.

Prague said the meat imported on February 13 had been distributed to five places in the Czech Republic and one in Slovakia.

Czech authorities said all the meat had been traced down, with some already consumed at a restaurant, a hospital and two schools after cooking, which reduces the likelihood of an infection.

Earlier this week Prague ordered lab tests on all Polish beef.

Polish Agriculture Minister Jan Krzysztof Ardanowski floated the possibility of checking Czech beer in retaliation.

“We can also check whether the temperature is always right, the expiration date, the malt and alcohol content,” he told reporters.

“I don’t want to go tit for tat, but if we’re going to be blackmailed, then we have no choice.”

The case comes on the heels of a scandal In January which saw Poland export a total of 2.7 tonnes of suspect beef to around a dozen fellow EU members, triggering a probe.

The scandal erupted when the TVN24 commercial news channel aired footage of apparently sick or lame cows being butchered at a small slaughterhouse in northeast Poland, in secret late at night when veterinary authorities were unlikely to visit.

Poland is a leading producer and exporter of meat in Europe, turning out around 600,000 tonnes of beef per year and exporting most of it to the EU, according to meat producer associations.