Portugal’s Ministry of Agriculture said that it had withdrawn and destroyed the shipment of beef deemed unsuitable for consumption.


A warning about the shipment was issued by the rapid warning network of the European Union, part of the EU’s food security system.


“The national authorities immediately triggered all the steps, having seized the whole lot of meat, which was forwarded for destruction,” the ministry said in a statement.


The beef came from a slaughterhouse in Poland that reportedly used carcasses of injured or diseased animals. The case initially emerged when Polish channel TVN24 broadcast pictures of the slaughterhouse, in Mazovia, about 100 km from Warsaw, in which employees are seen removing wounds, tumours and other marks from the meat, which was subsequently sent for sale.


Portugal’s ministry also said that the Directorate-General for Food and Veterinary (DGAV) has submitted a report on the situation to the EU authorities.