紐西蘭肉品局執行長Scott Champion博士今日指出，並未接到任何來自於中華民國官方有關在進口到台灣的紐西蘭牛肉中檢測出瘦肉精（ractopamine）的正式通知。

Champion博士表示紐西蘭禁用ractopamine餵食牛隻，並對媒體的報導提出了以下幾項說明：

不僅僅是法規限制不得使用如ractopamine這類的瘦肉精，更由於紐西蘭的牛隻幾乎都完全是食用牧草長大的，所以使用這類的化合物對於紐西蘭的畜牧業並無經濟效益，也因此牛羊畜牧業者是不會違法使用瘦肉精的。

紐西蘭輸出大量的牛肉到歐盟及中國，這兩者均限制使用瘦肉精，而且都從未發生過在任何的紐西蘭牛肉上驗出瘦肉精的案例。

在市場上所取得的檢體經常會有產地標識誤植或是產品相混的狀況發生，例如混合的牛絞肉以及在牛肉切割及處理過程中所造成的不同產地牛肉的交叉感染，都會誤導檢驗的結果，事實上有一椿案例就已查明檢體並非紐西蘭牛肉，由此可見一斑。

因為有嚴謹的法規及檢驗機制，紐西蘭的牛肉並未驗出任何禁用的化學藥劑及殘留物。Champion博士因此很有信心的指出：“檢出含瘦肉精成份的牛肉應該不是來自紐西蘭，而很有可能是採樣或檢測上出了差錯。”

新聞聯繫 / Contact

Dr Scott Champion, Chief Executive Officer

beef + lamb new zealand 紐西蘭肉品局

電話：+64 4 473 9150

Mistaken identity is the likely explanation concerning unconfirmed ractopamine and New Zealand beef

Beef + Lamb New Zealand Chief Executive, Scott Champion confirmed that there had been no official notification that ractopamine had been detected in New Zealand beef imports to Taiwan, despite media claims to this effect.

“Ractopamine is not permitted for use in cattle in New Zealand and there are a number of explanations for the current reports of a detection.”

In addition to the feeding of ractopamine to cattle being against the law, almost all of New Zealand beef animals are exclusively pasture-fed, meaning that there is little opportunity for or commercial benefit from using these chemicals in our farming systems.

New Zealand exports substantial quantities of beef to the European Union and the People's Republic of China, both of which also have restrictions on ractopamine without having a single detection.

If samples were collected from markets, there is a significant possibility that there has been product mislabelling or mixing - for instance in the case of minced beef - or cross contamination between meat from different sources in cutting or preparation. In fact one of the original samples has already been found not to be of New Zealand origin.

New Zealand's compliance and verification systems are rigorous and have not shown any residues of this substance in New Zealand beef.

“We are firmly of the view that the presumptive positives are not in beef sourced from New Zealand and there has most likely be an error in the sampling or testing of the product.”

根據紐西蘭農業部門，針對農業化合物及獸用藥物的使用，而於1997年制定的法規(Agricultural Compounds and Veterinary Medicines Act 1997 ，ACVM Act)，紐西蘭畜牧業者完全禁止餵食牛羊隻瘦肉精Ractopamine及相關藥物。

紐西蘭農業部門於2005年底，核准了瘦肉精Ractopamine(產品名Paylene 20)的使用，但法規限制僅可用於豬隻飼養，同時限定唯有專業(豬)獸醫才能開藥，並制定了最大殘留限量(Maximum Residue Limits；MRLs)，牛隻及羊隻飼育則嚴格規範不得餵食瘦肉精。

沒污染，放山養，讓人安心享用的紐西蘭草飼牛肉，愈來愈受到台灣餐飲業者的青睞！紐西蘭牛肉的進口量也年年增加！請見聯合報消費版的頭條趨勢新聞報導：