Mexican health and government officials have cleared a pig farm owned by Smithfield Foods in the state of Veracruz in Mexico of any wrongdoing in the deadly outbreak of H1N1 flu virus.
Following repeated investigations, Mexico’s 15 million pigs are all healthy and ready to eat, according to Agriculture Minister Alberto Cardenas.
A joint statement of Mexico’s agriculture, sanitation and the organization for animal health and safety said further investigations in private farms found no signs of disease.
“In conclusion, neither in the farm, nor in the homes, did we see sick pigs or people. Neither did we see signs of respiratory disease and, therefore, we can furthermore conclude that the consumption of pork meat does not represent any risk whatsoever to the health of human beings,” indicated the report released at a recent press conference.
Residents of the small Veracruz town of La Gloria, near Perote, had complained to local officials after about a third of the population came down with the flu, which they blamed on the pig farm operated by Smithfield.
Smithfield had denied there were any health issues at the operation, Granjas Caroll de Mexico, which has 56,000 sows and produced 950,000 hogs in fiscal 2008.