Contaminated Meat From Brazil Hits The EU, As Mercosur Opponents Are Proven Right

Via Remix News,

Opponents of Brussels’ deal with Latin American countries to import agricultural products are being proven right, unfortunately. Meat containing a banned growth hormone has shown up in the EU, a Dutch authority has reported, leading Polish authorities to order urgent inspections by the relevant inspectorates.

EU farmers and multiple groups warned that the lack of safety regulations in use across the Mercosur countries would lead to such outcomes.

The Dutch Food and Consumer Product Safety Authority announced that it had detected Brazilian beef contaminated with estradiol, a growth hormone used to stimulate estrus in cattle that is banned in the European Union, writes Do Rzezcy.

Four contaminated shipments, containing a total of 62,781 kilograms of meat, were imported by two European companies.

A significant portion of the meat was distributed to several buyers and introduced into the EU market.

Two remaining shipments of beef from Brazil (each containing approximately 25 tons of frozen meat) were blocked by Dutch authorities from being released for distribution, the Farmer.pl website reported on Monday.

The website stressed that the detection of contaminated beef imports could become another argument for opponents of the EU trade agreement with Mercosur, a bloc of South American countries.

According to the RMF FM radio station, EU member states, including Poland, were informed by the European Commission about the distribution of contaminated meat from Brazil as early as November 11 of last year. The European Commission detected the irregularities during an audit at the end of October 2025. By Jan. 21, contaminated beef had been detected in approximately 10 countries, including the Czech Republic, Germany, and Italy.

And yet, that same day, on Jan. 21, despite the European Parliament voting to have the ECJ review the legality of the Mercosur deal, leaders in Brussels were urging for the deal to be formalized, including the German president of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, and German Chancellor Friedrich Merz as well.

“We are convinced of the agreement’s legality. No more delays. The agreement must now be applied provisionally,” Merz posted on X at the time.

The Polish Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development has ordered inspections of beef imported from Brazil.

“Due to reports of estradiol (a growth hormone) being detected in batches of Brazilian beef imported to the EU, we have ordered urgent inspections by the relevant authorities. We are monitoring the inflow of products into Poland and verifying all signals.”

“At this time, there is no information that the indicated batches have reached the Polish market. We are taking preventive measures to ensure full food safety,” Deputy Minister Małgorzata Gromadzka announced on X.

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