Europe’s egg-contamination scandal spreads to 17 countries
According to NPR, the scope of Europe’s contaminated egg scandal is expanding, reaching as far as Hong Kong. Farms in four countries—Belgium, the Netherlands, Germany, and France—have been blocked from selling eggs after detection of the pesticide fipronil.
According to NPR, the scope of Europe’s contaminated egg scandal is expanding, reaching as far as Hong Kong. Farms in four countries—Belgium, the Netherlands, Germany, and France—have been blocked from selling eggs after detection of the pesticide fipronil. According to Daniel Rosario, EU trade and agriculture spokesman, contaminated eggs have also been found in at least 11 other European Union member states—Sweden, the United Kingdom, Austria, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, Poland, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Denmark—as well as in Switzerland and Hong Kong.
Millions of eggs have been recalled from European supermarket shelves over concerns about the use of the pesticide. Fipronil is used to kill insects such as mites and is banned from use on animals in the human food chain. It was believed to have been mixed with a pest-control agent that is legal to use around poultry, contaminating their eggs.
On August 10, two people in the Netherlands were arrested in raids linked to the fipronil contamination, according to Reuters. 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.
The European Commission plans to hold a meeting about the contamination on September 26.