Poland exported 5,500 pounds of meat from sick cows to EU

Thousands of pounds of meat from sick cows who were slaughtered illegally in Poland were exported to 10 other European Union countries, the country's top veterinary official said on Thursday.

Pawel Niemczuk said about 2,500 kilograms of the meat was exported to Finland, Hungary, Estonia, Romania, Sweden, France, Spain, Lithuania, Portugal and Slovakia.

Meat from sick cows also went to 20 sales locations in Poland but has since been recalled, he said.

The announcement follows the recent airing of an undercover report by private broadcaster TVN that documented sick cows being slaughtered in violation of the law in the northeastern Polish town of Ostrow Mazowiecka.

No veterinarians were present for the slaughter although the meat was marked as having followed that required legal procedure.

Louise Nyholm of Sweden's National Food Agency said small quantities of the meat had been sold to four companies in Sweden, and called it "a serious violation of food law and totally unacceptable."