The Island's largest food processor says compost from the Waste Watch compost plant contains "major potential food hazards.''

Cavendish Farms spokesperson Mary Keith says one of the company's producers ordered a load of compost, which contained metal and glass particles. She says Cavendish immediately notified the rest of its producers not to use the product.

"A particle of glass or metal could potentially become part of the food chain or become part of the processing," she says.

Keith adds that any risk of hazardous materials could affect the company's ability to export product. She says American food, safety, and border officials have been extremely cautious since the terrorist attacks on Sept. 11, 2001.

"One of the concerns, obviously, is bioterrorism. They're looking for assurances that every part of the food chain is without hazard," she says.

The company say the note is a warning for the next growing season.

Compost is government-approved: IWMC

The manager of the Island Waste Management Corporation, Cleve Myers, says there's not much he can do to ensure the compost is 100 per cent free of foreign materials.

Meyers says because the material for the compost facility comes from homes and businesses, it's virtually impossible to ensure no foreign materials – such as paperclips or pins – enter the composting process. However, he says the compost is safe to use, adding it has been given a category "A" rating by the Canadian Food Inspection Agency.

Myers says all farm fields contain foreign substances of one kind or another, too.

"Trucks drive over them. They drop things off them. Potato harvesters. So it's not like if you don't use compost there will never be anything in your soil, and if you do it will be awful," he says.

"If Cavendish chooses not to use it, or not to buy product from anybody that does use it, that's their business. We may not happen to agree with it, but they are a private company and they can do what they want. It unfortunately sends the wrong message to people who may be considering using it."

Meyers does not expect the Waste Management Corporation to have any problems selling its compost product to other customers.

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