Okay you can eat the pork (and the beef and drink the milk)

In an attempt to restore public confidence in Irish pork following the recent discovery of dioxin contamination, the Irish government (according to the BBC) have announced how they will do this.

The Republic of Ireland’s agriculture minister has announced how supplies of Irish pork are to be restored.

Brendan Smith said special labelling will confirm pork as having had no association with contaminated feed.

Of course the reality is that consumer confidence has been shattered and generally it takes more than a special label to reassure the majority of consumers.

Northern Ireland’s Health Minister has also attempted to reassure consumers.

It is safe to consume pork, beef and milk despite a scare over contaminated feed, Northern Ireland’s health minister had said.

It’s interesting to read the following BBC article in which it says:

The news broke on a Saturday afternoon in Dublin, but amazing as it may seem, while pork was being cleared off the shelves there in a matter of hours, it would be a full 24 hours before Northern Ireland consumers were being advised on what to do.

Of course it wasn’t just Northern Ireland consumers, in the rest of the United Kingdom.

So are you going to buy Irish pork and sausages now?

Would you drink milk from a bag?

BBC reports on milk in plastic bags.

One of the UK’s leading supermarkets has begun stocking milk in plastic bags – but how easy are they to use?

Rory Cellan-Jones road tests a bag of milk to find out if it is likely to replace the traditional doorstep pint.

Would you drink milk from a bag?

Watch the video.

Looks all a bit complicated to me.

Having said that, I read on a Canadian blog  that they have been using milk bags in Canada for years. In the UK we are sometimes a little behind, for example it took us ages to move away from leaded petrol for example, or embrace organic produce.

Though I know really large milk bags have been used in catering for some years, but this is the first milk bag for consumers.