The integrity of the European Union’s food safety protocols has come under scrutiny following the detection of several shipments of Brazilian beef contaminated with a prohibited growth hormone.
In late 2025, the Netherlands Food and Consumer Product Safety Authority (NVWA) identified the presence of oestradiol 17β (E2), a substance strictly banned for use in food-producing animals within the EU, triggering a series of alerts across the continent.
The discovery led to a formal notification via the Rapid Alert System for Food and Feed (RASFF) on November 14.
Investigations revealed that at least six shipments had entered the European market via Dutch ports using health certificates that failed to reflect the hormone treatment.
While the NVWA managed to intercept several large consignments of frozen meat, reports from FoodHolland on February 16 indicate that approximately 5,000 kg of chilled beef had already reached retailers and was likely consumed as the official warnings were issued after the product’s expiry dates in October 2025.
Despite the delay in notification, the NVWA clarified that the consumption of meat treated with E2 does not pose an acute risk to public health. That is because, while the beef was legally non-compliant and subject to a “zero-tolerance” ban, the toxicological risk of one-time consumption remains small.
The contamination was not isolated to the Netherlands.
The European Commission co-ordinated a wider recall affecting 10 EU member states and the UK, with shipments also traced to importers in Belgium and Switzerland.
In response to the breach, the EC mandated increased laboratory testing and physical inspections at border control posts for all bovine imports originating from Brazil.
This incident follows long-standing concerns regarding Brazil’s “split system”, which is intended to separate cattle destined for the EU from those treated with hormones for the domestic market.
A previous audit by the EC’s Directorate-General for Health & Food Safety (DG SANTE) had highlighted systemic flaws in this traceability, suggesting that self-declarations by producers lacked sufficient official oversight.
MEP Sander Smit of the Farmer–Citizen Movement (BBB) party has formally questioned the EC regarding the contaminated Brazilian beef imports, demanding clarification on how beef tainted with E2 entered the EU market despite previous warnings.
Smit criticises the EC’s prior assurances as a “farce”, pointing to delayed and allegedly downgraded alert notifications as evidence of negligence and calls for an immediate import ban based on the EU Precautionary Principle.
The EU Precautionary Principle is a risk management approach allowing preventative, restrictive measures when scientific uncertainty exists regarding risks to human, animal, plant, or environmental health.
Smit stressed the risks had already been brought to light in 2024 after alarming audits and reports showed that the controls were not in order and safety could not be guaranteed.
Although he expressed being “shocked” by the findings at the time, the EC dismissed his concerns, denying that any meat containing the prohibited hormone would reach the EU market.
The EC further assured the European Parliament that oversight would be intensified and that “every single shipment” would be subject to rigorous inspection.
“The Commission’s reassuring words have proven to be a farce,” Smit said in a press statement.
“Time and again, it becomes clear — even as we stand on the cusp of massive South American meat imports due to the Mercosur agreement — that the food safety of Brazilian imports cannot be guaranteed.
“The most shocking aspect is perhaps the persistent denial of these risks,” Smit stated.
“This time it concerns hormone-tainted beef from Brazil; previously, Brazilian poultry meat was already found to be substandard,” he. added.
“This hormone-treated beef scandal must be fully investigated, and until then, an import ban must be imposed in accordance with the EU precautionary principle.”
Brazil has told the European Union not to fear Mercosur imports, dismissing claims its products will “poison” the bloc’s markets. https://t.co/kRkou4JHR9
— Brussels Signal (@brusselssignal) November 20, 2025
