However, the figures look very different to Danish Crown.

Danish Crown exports more than 90 per cent of its production, and the documented high level of food safety is one of the cornerstones of the company’s operations.

Every year, Danish Crown performs 100,000 salmonella tests, which enables the company to follow the situation closely – and gives an up-to-date picture of the current incidence of salmonella.

Much of the pork which Danish Crown supplies to the market in both Denmark and abroad features in the statistics as imported meat, though it comes from animals which have been reared and slaughtered in Denmark. This is because the meat, after basic butchering in Denmark, is sent to Germany for final processing – and then transported back to Denmark. As a result, it is registered as imported meat, but both the incidence of salmonella and checks on the meat are under Danish conditions.

90 per cent of the meat which Danish Crown imports is thus Danish meat.

In 2008, the incidence of salmonella in Danish Crown’s meat which was processed in Denmark was 1 per cent, which is considerably lower than average.