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Eggs containing pesticides found in 17 countries: EU
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IANS | 12 Aug, 2017
Fifteen European Union countries
plus Hong Kong and Switzerland have received eggs contaminated with the
pesticide fipronil, the European Commission said on Friday.
The
countries that have received the eggs are Britain, Sweden, Austria,
Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, Poland, Romania, Slovenia, Slovakia and
Denmark -- along with non-EU Switzerland and Hong Kong, BBC reported.
Eggs,
coming mainly from the Netherlands, were found to contain fipronil, a
substance used to kill lice and ticks on animals that is banned by the
EU for use in the food industry. According to officials, it may have
been added to disinfectant in some chicken farms.
EU Trade and
Agriculture spokesman Daniel Rosario said on Friday that farms were shut
down in the Netherlands, Belgium, Germany and France after authorities
confirmed that fipronil had been used.
The pesticide can damage
people's kidneys, liver and thyroid glands if eaten in large quantities.
However, food standards agencies played down the risks for anyone who
already had the tainted eggs.
The UK food watchdog said about
700,000 eggs had been sent to the country from potentially contaminated
Dutch farms, up from an earlier estimate of 21,000.
The Food Standards Agency (FSA) in Britain said it was very unlikely that there was a risk to public health.
Processed
foods containing eggs, including sandwiches and salads, were recalled
by leading supermarkets, including Sainsbury's, Morrisons, Waitrose and
Asda.
Supermarkets in Belgium, the Netherlands and Germany also withdrew millions of eggs from sale.
France's
Agriculture Minister Stéphane Travert said about 250,000 affected eggs
had been sold in the country since April, adding that all products
containing eggs from contaminated farms would be taken off the shelves.
"Blaming
and shaming will bring us nowhere and I want to stop this," European
Commissioner for Health and Food Safety Vytenis Andriukaitis said.
On
Thursday, police arrested two people in raids on companies in the
Netherlands and Belgium. A criminal investigation is under way in
Belgium and the Netherlands, centering on two firms -- Poultry Vision, a
pest control firm from Belgium, which is alleged to have sold the
treatment to a Dutch poultry farm cleaning company, Chickfriend.
More than 100 poultry farms were closed during the investigation and at least 26 suspects were identified.
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