Half of the reported Polish meat was Slovak

The scandal has already forced a Slovak firm to lay people off.

Up to 240 kilograms of meat reported to the authorities as being of Polish origin actually came from Slovak producers and was safe, the inspectors of the Public Health Authority (ÚVZ) revealed.

Moreover, the meat from Poland was supplied to only one school canteen, but no health issues have occurred there, the TASR newswire reported.

The initial reports from Poland said that the meat in question was to be delivered to 15 restaurants, pre-school and school canteens in the total amount of roughly 520 kilograms, mostly frozen beef. A total of 226 kilograms of Polish meat, in fact, ended up in Slovak facilities, TASR wrote.

Investigations are still underway.

A list of butchers

Read also: Meat from sick Polish cows reached Slovak schools and restaurants Read more

"In this regard, we cannot say poor meat can reach restaurants and school canteens more easily," said chief hygienist Ján Mikas, as quoted by TASR.

The State Veterinary and Food Administration (ŠVPS) controls Slovak meat distributors and ÚVZ then checks restaurants and school canteens, he added.

Unlike the Czech Republic, the ŠVPS has also published a list of butchers who bought the meat from Poland, since they consider health of Slovaks to be the most important thing in this case.

Butchers harmed

On the other hand, one of the companies, Mäsovýroba Cimbaľák from Bardejov (Prešov Region), has said that 120 people will lose their jobs due to the firm being listed on the ŠVPS website, TASR reported.

Read also: How does fresh meat get to the butcher's shop in Slovakia? Read more

"It does not seem the situation will improve so we have announced collective redundancies at the local labour office," said Pavol Sčensný, the firm's manager, as quoted by TASR.

The company's business partners have stopped orders, he added.

The firm has all the documents proving the meat from Poland was safe, which was confirmed by the Polish public authorities involved in the process of meat inspections before its export.

"We further distributed it to our customers but there were no health problems found," Sčensný added, as quoted by TASR.

If the meat had looked unsafe, the firm and their customers would not have bought it, he said.

6. Feb 2019 at 13:39 | Compiled by Spectator staff