Victoria’s Chief Veterinary Officer Dr Charles Milne has played down concerns over the detection of toxic chemicals in livestock near the Esso gas plant in Gippsland.
The Department of Agriculture has confirmed that 45 cattle and 45 sheep from three farms in Longford tested positive for elevated levels of polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS).
The chemicals were once used in fire-fighting foam across Australia, including at the Esso gas plant in Longford.
There were similar problems at the nearby RAAF base in East Sail.
But Dr Milne said there was no cause for concern.
“A number of food safety agencies around the world have looked at this in detail, including Food Standards Australia New Zealand, and have concluded that the levels we are seeing in our cattle pose little risk to public health,” Dr Milne said. .
“To date, there is no evidence that these levels we are observing are causing problems in cattle or sheep or even in the human food chain.
“We have tested cattle and sheep in three facilities – about 90 animals in total, 45 cattle and 45 sheep – and found PFAS levels in these animals.
“Some actually reached the threshold level set by the Australian and New Zealand food standards, but most fell below that level.”
However, Dr Milne said that even these levels were only a guide.
“Nowhere in the world does an authority set a maximum level for these contaminants for food safety. But having said that, it is clear that we are taking this issue very seriously and looking at it from a very cautious perspective,” he said.
“It’s not just a Victorian issue, it’s an issue for all of Australia and even the world.”
Esso conducted a peer-reviewed analysis of cattle serum, said its spokesman Travis Parnaby.
“Based on PFAS levels measured in livestock, it was found that the risk of harm to humans from eating livestock is very unlikely,” Mr Parnaby said
“I won’t eat them,” said the farmer.
The Victorian Environment Authority has advised people not to eat ducks, eels and carp from Hart and Dowd Morass Wetlands, which have been contaminated with PFAS from the nearby RAAF base.
Ray Shingles farms in Longford, near the Esso plant, and said he didn’t feel like eating his own livestock.
- I won’t eat them,” he said.
“In fact, I love carp and I won’t eat carp from the local water bodies because of the pollution.”
He said although his farm has not yet been tested for PFAS, it is likely to be there.
“Our aquifer here runs below Esso, from some of those farms that are actually contaminated, so you live in a situation where you don’t know,” he said.
“As far as I’m concerned, it doesn’t do the industry much good and the more we see material in the media, it alarms people as to what’s actually in their food.”
Mr Shingles is concerned that he and other farmers may falsely claim that their cattle are not contaminated with chemicals.
“We sign a supplier declaration and we have to answer yes or no, that’s pretty clear,” he said.
“By law, when we sign these documents, tick the boxes and put our signatures under them, we are responsible for keeping our livestock.”
“Farmers don’t need to declare the details of PFAS.”
Mr Shingles said the issue was causing stress for farmers who were already struggling with drought.
“When these companies can get away with sending this to the waterways, as major producers, in the end it has nothing to do with us, but we will have to bear the cost of it,” he said.
Asked if Esso would compensate farmers for infected livestock, Mr Parnaby said he was “working with neighbours on an individual basis to provide support where needed”.
But Dr Milne said farmers were safe.
“Safe Meat and the integrity systems company that runs the NVD have said that farmers do not need to include PFAS details on national supplier declarations,” Dr Milne said.
But he can understand people’s dissatisfaction with the issue.
“Yes, absolutely, but let me assure you that what has happened with these animals is that when they are tested, assuming they are below the trigger level, they can get into the food chain, it is not a problem,” he said.
“When the threshold level set by FSANZ is reached, a risk assessment is carried out and the chief health officer determines whether these animals are fit for human consumption or not.”
Victoria’s Chief Veterinary Officer Dr Charles Milne has played down concerns over the detection of toxic chemicals in livestock near the Esso gas plant in Gippsland.
The Department of Agriculture has confirmed that 45 cattle and 45 sheep from three farms in Longford tested positive for elevated levels of polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS).
The chemicals were once used in fire-fighting foam across Australia, including at the Esso gas plant in Longford.
There were similar problems at the nearby RAAF base in East Sail.
But Dr Milne said there was no cause for concern.
“A number of food safety agencies around the world have looked at this in detail, including Food Standards Australia New Zealand, and have concluded that the levels we are seeing in our cattle pose little risk to public health,” Dr Milne said. .
“To date, there is no evidence that these levels we are observing are causing problems in cattle or sheep or even in the human food chain.
“We have tested cattle and sheep in three facilities – about 90 animals in total, 45 cattle and 45 sheep – and found PFAS levels in these animals.
“Some actually reached the threshold level set by the Australian and New Zealand food standards, but most fell below that level.”
However, Dr Milne said that even these levels were only a guide.
“Nowhere in the world does an authority set a maximum level for these contaminants for food safety. But having said that, it is clear that we are taking this issue very seriously and looking at it from a very cautious perspective,” he said.
“It’s not just a Victorian issue, it’s an issue for all of Australia and even the world.”
Esso conducted a peer-reviewed analysis of cattle serum, said its spokesman Travis Parnaby.
“Based on PFAS levels measured in livestock, it was found that the risk of harm to humans from eating livestock is very unlikely,” Mr Parnaby said
“I won’t eat them,” said the farmer.
The Victorian Environment Authority has advised people not to eat ducks, eels and carp from Hart and Dowd Morass Wetlands, which have been contaminated with PFAS from the nearby RAAF base.
Ray Shingles farms in Longford, near the Esso plant, and said he didn’t feel like eating his own livestock.
- I won’t eat them,” he said.
“In fact, I love carp and I won’t eat carp from the local water bodies because of the pollution.”
He said although his farm has not yet been tested for PFAS, it is likely to be there.
“Our aquifer here runs below Esso, from some of those farms that are actually contaminated, so you live in a situation where you don’t know,” he said.
“As far as I’m concerned, it doesn’t do the industry much good and the more we see material in the media, it alarms people as to what’s actually in their food.”
Mr Shingles is concerned that he and other farmers may falsely claim that their cattle are not contaminated with chemicals.
“We sign a supplier declaration and we have to answer yes or no, that’s pretty clear,” he said.
“By law, when we sign these documents, tick the boxes and put our signatures under them, we are responsible for keeping our livestock.”
“Farmers don’t need to declare the details of PFAS.”
Mr Shingles said the issue was causing stress for farmers who were already struggling with drought.
“When these companies can get away with sending this to the waterways, as major producers, in the end it has nothing to do with us, but we will have to bear the cost of it,” he said.
Asked if Esso would compensate farmers for infected livestock, Mr Parnaby said he was “working with neighbours on an individual basis to provide support where needed”.
But Dr Milne said farmers were safe.
“Safe Meat and the integrity systems company that runs the NVD have said that farmers do not need to include PFAS details on national supplier declarations,” Dr Milne said.
But he can understand people’s dissatisfaction with the issue.
“Yes, absolutely, but let me assure you that what has happened with these animals is that when they are tested, assuming they are below the trigger level, they can get into the food chain, it is not a problem,” he said.
“When the threshold level set by FSANZ is reached, a risk assessment is carried out and the chief health officer determines whether these animals are fit for human consumption or not.”