Yahoo – AFP,
August 5, 2017
Brussels (AFP) - Belgian officials admitted Saturday they knew in early June there was a potential problem over insecticide-contaminated eggs but kept it secret because of an ongoing fraud investigation.
A laboratory assistant for the Dutch food safety board carries out tests on eggs on August 1, 2017 (AFP Photo/Piroschka van de Wouw) |
Brussels (AFP) - Belgian officials admitted Saturday they knew in early June there was a potential problem over insecticide-contaminated eggs but kept it secret because of an ongoing fraud investigation.
"We
knew since early June there was potentially a problem with fipronil in the
poultry sector," Katrien Stragier, a spokeswoman for Belgium's food safety
agency (AFSCA), told Flemish television VRT.
"We
immediately launched an investigation and we also informed the prosecutor
because it was a matter of possible fraud," she added.
"From
that point on the secrecy of the inquiry took precedent. We understand that
people have questions about public health and we are trying to answer
them," she added.
Contacted
by AFP over the past few days, the prosecutor in Antwerp handling the case
refused to give out any information on the specific orders of the investigating
judge.
Belgian
supermarkets have cleared eggs from the shelves of supermarkets as a
precautionary measure while awaiting the results of tests.
In Germany
and the Netherlands several million eggs from Dutch farms have already been
recalled.
German
Agriculture Minister Christian Schmidt pressed the authorities, particularly in
Belgium and The Netherlands, to clear up the situation.
"Someone
has clearly proceeded with criminal intent to contaminate (the eggs) with a
banned product," Schmidt told the daily Bild.
Dutch
officials closed down 180 businesses earlier in the week and after tests, the
Dutch food authority (NVWA) said 138 poultry farms -- about a fifth of those in
the country -- would remain closed.
One batch
of eggs posing in particular posed "an acute danger to public
health", the agency said.
Eggs from
another 59 farms contained high enough levels of the insecticide, fipronil, for
the food authority to warn against any children eating them.
Fipronil is
commonly used in veterinary products to get rid of fleas, lice and ticks. It is
banned from being used to treat animals destined for human consumption, such as
chickens.
In large
quantities, the insecticide is considered to be "moderately
hazardous" according to the World Health Organization, and can have
dangerous effects on people's kidneys, liver and thyroid glands.
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