More dioxins found in German eggs

High levels of dioxin have been found in eggs on yet more farms in Germany, according to new reports.

The latest alerts follow the discovery of higher than permitted levels of the poisonous chemical on five German farms in April and have occurred despite the introduction of strict new rules following a major scare last year. Nearly 5,000 German farms were temporarily closed during the 2011 dioxin contamination. There was a European Union-wide alert when contaminated eggs produced in Germany were traced to other countries. In the United Kingdom supermarkets removed suspect products from their shelves after contaminated eggs found their way into the cakes and quiches of two British food manufacturers.

The spread of dioxin last year was traced to animal feed. Fats not intended for food use were used in animal feed for pigs and poultry. German authorities subsequently made revisions to the country's food safety laws and placed restrictions on animal feed ingredients. The European Union also introduced new regulations to prevent a similar outbreak in future, but in April this year high levels of dioxin were found in eggs on a farm in North Rhine Westphalia. Contaminated eggs were also found on two farms near the city of Duisburg and two poultry farms in the northern German state of Lower Saxony were also affected. Now high levels of dioxin have been found in eggs on another farm in North Rhine Westphalia.

The discovery was on a poultry farm near Borken. Although dioxin can present a danger to health, the state agriculture ministry said it saw no acute danger to public health from this particular find because there would need to be long-term consumption for such a danger to arise.

The dioxin was apparently discovered as a result of the farm's own safety checks. The farm has been sealed off, the eggs have been withdrawn from sale and the authorities have launched an investigation in an attempt to trace the source of the dioxin.

News emerged of another discovery on a farm in Lower Saxony. The farm, in Emsland, has 12,000 birds. It has been quarantined and its eggs have been recalled from sale.

A spokesman for the European Union told FarmingUK that feed had been ruled out as a source of contamination in this year's cases. "Following extensive investigations, in all cases the feed was excluded as being the source of contamination," said Frederic Vincent, spokesman for health and consumer policy at the EU. "The contamination cases concern all isolated cases and the source is to be considered as farm-specific." He said, "Different possibilities can be considered as possible source such as (not exhaustive) the soil, building materials or the bedding material (litter) used. In some cases the source has already been to a certain extent clarified, in other cases investigations are still ongoing. In all cases the necessary measures were taken to protect public health (all necessary measures taken to recall eggs already on the market and to avoid that non-compliant eggs can be put on the market)."

Last year the scare spread to other EU states as a result of contaminated egg being exported, but Frederic said there was nothing to suggest that any of the contaminated egg had gone beyond the borders of Germany this time. He said that when such incidents were confined to a member state competence for dealing with such an incident was that of the member state involved, although he said that the EU had drafted new rules following last year's outbreak in Germany. He said the new regulation was passed on March 15 this year and would be applicable from September 16. The regulation (Regulation (EU) 225/2012) introduced new controls on the presence of dioxins and PCBs in animal feed.

Frederic said, "Last year’s incident was related to the contamination by dioxins of fatty acids, not intended for use in feed, used in feed. The measures established in Regulation (EU) 225/2012 are related to feed and in particular to fats and oils to be used in feed, and have as aim to avoid such incidents (or at least minimize the risk that such incidents can occur again)."

During the 2011 outbreak, EU officials initially believed that the incident had been confined to Germany, but subsequently confirmed that contaminated egg had found its way into exports. The contaminated egg arrived in the United Kingdom via Holland. Eggs from some of the farms affected by the contaminated feed had been exported to Holland for processing. Pasteurised egg product from Holland was then shipped to the UK where it went to food manufacturing plants.

The Food Standards Agency subsequently revealed that the eggs from Holland had gone to two UK manufacturers. The FSA said the manufacturers used the pasteurised liquid egg to produce a range of short shelf life cakes and quiches, which were supplied to the major UK supermarkets. The suspect cakes and quiches were quickly removed from supermarket shelves once the alarm was raised.

The FSA said the products on sale in the UK would have presented a reduced risk to consumers because the contaminated egg from Germany had been mixed with other non-contaminated egg once it had arrived in Holland. The mixing of the eggs would have diluted the levels of dioxins, said the FSA.