A bulletin for the Australian Food Industry September 1997
Contents: Training and national food hygiene legislation | ANZFA draft standard on food additives | Unusual chemical poisoning incident | Chlorfluazuron (CFZ) residues in meat | Hepatitis A transmission by foods | Garibaldi charges dropped | Cheese from unpasteurised milk | Date marking of processed foods for export | Fungi and food spoilage
Chlorfluazuron (CFZ) residues in meat
In the June 1997 issue of this bulletin, attention was drawn to a class action by New South Wales and Queensland graziers against the chemical company ICI and the governments of both these States. The case involved a massive compensation claim over the contamination of cattle and meat by CFZ which was widely used in aerial spraying to control insects in cotton crops. Cotton trash was fed to beef cattle as a drought food supplement in the early 1990s.
In June, the Federal Court found that ICI had breached its duty of care to graziers who used the feed; to abattoir owners who unwittingly purchased contaminated cattle; to meat processors and exporters who owned meat that was contaminated; and to feedlot owners who incurred expense in holding contaminated cattle in detention.
The presiding judge found that ICI had failed to undertake the full environmental field studies recommended by specialist scientists. This occurred in spite of numerous expressions of concern about the environmental hazards of CFZ by ICI scientists in the United Kingdom over a period of four years. 'ICI did not know the problems associated with CFZ because, and only because, it did not take the usual and obvious steps to find them out,' concluded the judge.
The judge ruled that the State governments had not been negligent and could not be held liable for the negligence of officers who had been involved in recommending feeding cotton waste to cattle. 'It is not shown that any officer knew, or ought to have known, that the feeding of cotton trash might lead to a significant contamination problem,' said the judge.
Officers of the Technical Committee on Agricultural Chemicals were found to have acted negligently in their consideration of ICI's application for clearance to use CFZ.
However the agreement to grant clearances was a policy decision and as such the Committee was granted immunity irrespective of its actions or inactions.
The judge said the story was about bureaucracies: one in the private sector seeking to generate profits from a new product and the other a public network established to guard against harm from agricultural chemicals. Each had failed because well qualified people had examined details without considering the whole picture.
The damages to be awarded have yet to be determined by the Federal Court.
Food Science Australia
PO Box 52, North Ryde 1670. Tel +61 2 9490 8397 Fax +61 2 9490 8499
Email enquiries@csiro.au