An investigation has found that 5,000kg of imported Brazilian beef containing a banned hormone was 'largely consumed' in the Netherlands last year.

The investigation was carried out by the Netherlands Food and Consumer Product Safety Authority following a recall last year of beef from Brazil that contained the banned growth hormone oestradiol.

The EU’s Rapid Alert System for Food and Feed (RASFF) had notified member states last November that the growth hormone oestradiol, which is banned in the EU, had been identified in consignments of beef from Brazil.

EU controls and audits led to a recall of this beef in November, however some of the consignment had already entered the EU food chain via the Netherlands.

The Food Safety Authority of Ireland (FSAI) was also notified in December 12, by the Food Standards Agency Northern Ireland that a consignment of beef, with an expiry date of October 31, 2025 - from animals that had been treated with oestradiol - had been distributed from Northern Ireland to three food businesses in the Republic of Ireland in September.

The FSAI said that 128kg of Brazilian beef that contained the banned growth promoting hormone had entered the Irish market

It is understood that the beef that had reached the Republic of Ireland had been imported from Brazil by a company in the Netherlands, then moved to a company in Germany, than to Northern Ireland, and finally to three retailers in the Republic of Ireland.

According to the FSAI the beef with the banned hormone was in all likelihood purchased and eaten by consumers in Ireland.

Beef

In an update this month to the country's parliament the Dutch State Secretary for Health confirmed that the Netherlands Food and Consumer Product Safety Authority established that six consignments of the Brazilian beef containing the banned hormone had entered the EU via the Netherlands.

The Dutch State Secretary for Health detailed that four consignments, 62,781kg of meat had been imported by two importers, 13,868kg by a Swiss importer and 48,913kg by a Belgian importer.

The batch of frozen meat imported by the Belgian importer did not enter the Netherlands.

In addition to this two consignments of approximately 25,000kg each were traced to two Dutch importers.

These involved frozen meat. At the request of the Netherlands Food and Consumer Product Safety Authority, these consignments were blocked by the importers.

However in the update to the country's parliament the Dutch State Secretary for Health also detailed that the Netherlands Food and Consumer Product Safety Authority had instructed companies to notifiy their customers in relation to the imported Brazilian beef and ensure that it was not distributed.

The secretary set out that given the shelf life of the chilled beef - best before end of October 2025 - and the fact that the EU’s Rapid Alert System for Food and Feed had not sounded an alarm on the beef until November, it was likely that the beef had been "consumed".

In the update to the country's parliament the Dutch State Secretary for Health also stated that a portion of of meat originating from cattle treated with oestradiol did not pose a health risk to consumers.

In addition to this the secretary told members of the parliament that the Netherlands Food and Consumer Product Safety Authority is continuing to monitor, trace and remove from the market any food products that contain banned substances.