Watch the slideshow

Luc Pussemier
Veterinary and Agrochemical Research (CODA-CERVA), Belgium  

The dioxin incident that hit Belgium in 1999 has caused severe economical damage in Belgium and was at the origin of an in depth reorganization of the official structures responsible for food safety. The creation of the Federal Agency for the Safety of the Food Chain (FASFC) can specially be put forward. One of the first tasks of the FASFC was to implement the CONSUM programme (CONtaminant Surveillance System), one of the most sophisticated surveillance programme for dioxins and PCB in feed and food.

Dioxins and PCB are persistent organic pollutants able to accumulate in the food chain. Human exposure is mostly the result of the intake of animal fat through the consumption of milk, meat, eggs and fish. Therefore, animal products and, consequently, animal feed are very important links of the food chain (figure)

 
In a first stage, the presentation will give a general overview of the sources of dioxins and PCB in the environment, the way they enter the food chain, the hazards that are linked to these contaminants and the exposure of humans through food intake.

Then, an overview will be given about the 1999 dioxin incident in Belgium as well as some more recent incidents that occurred later in Belgium and elsewhere. Special attention will be paid to the patterns in dioxins, furans and PCB congeners that characterized those different incidents and the link that can be drawn with the source of contamination. An attempt will also be made in order to quantify the relative imissions of dioxin-like products in the food chain during those incidents.

Finally, attention will be paid to the lessons that can be drawn and the new control measures that were implemented as a consequence of these incidents.