Safety and high quality of all products offered to our Consumers are our high priority thus, the Management Board of Animex Foods decided to withdraw all batches of smoked pork bacon. which may have contained slightest traces of the additive contaminated with ethylene oxide (ETO). In July 2021, one of our contractors informed us of having unintentionally delivered an additive containing 0.33% of locust bean gum contaminated with ethylene oxide (ETO). Immediately after, we conducted an appropriate risk assessment, as a result of which we commissioned an accredited laboratory to test finished products manufactured with the use of a batch of the aforementioned additive. The test results did not show the presence of ETO in our products, however, guided by the precautionary principle, we decided to withdraw product in question from the market, informing respectively the competent supervisory authorities and customers thus being consistent with the approach of the European Union in this regard. The issue of ethylene oxide (ETO) contaminated additives is widespread on the European market and it involves most of the Community countries. The European Commission has therefore, undertaken to devise a uniform approach to contaminated products by official control bodies throughout the European Union (GIS information: https://www.gov.pl/web/gis/dzialania-na-poziomie-ue-dotyczace-zanieczyoszenia-aktywnosci-tlenkiem-etylenu-eto). It is worth adding that food companies in many Member States are currently withdrawing thousands of batches of their products.
