France to analyze eggs after EU urges checks in 4 countries

BRUSSELS (AP) — Experts are analyzing contaminated egg products imported from the Netherlands to two establishments in France, one of four countries the European Union notified Monday that some eggs contaminated with an insecticide may have crossed their borders.

Eggs tainted with the pesticide Fipronil have been discovered in Belgium and in the Netherlands. The EU's executive arm alerted France, Britain, Sweden and Switzerland as a precaution while Belgian and Dutch authorities investigate how the insecticide came illegally into contact with poultry.

The aim was "to share the information so that everybody knows that it's now also up to the Swedish, Swiss, French and to the U.K. national authorities to check," European Commission spokeswoman Anna-Kaisa Itkonen said

The move does not mean that eggs contaminated with Fipronil have actually entered those countries, she said.. However, the French Agriculture Ministry said Monday it was investigating 13 lots of egg products from the Netherlands that were sent to two establishments in the country between July 11 and July 26 — long before European authorities informed France it might have received some contaminated shipments.

The ministry said it was analyzing whether the level of contamination was "susceptible of presenting a risk to consumers." Traces of Fipronil are not necessarily a risk, a ministry statement said. The lots were sent to establishments in the Vienne and Maine et Loire regions, southwest of Paris, the ministry said.

Roosts of a poultry farmer in France's northern Pas de Calais region also were placed under surveillance on July 28 after the farmer's Belgian supplier told him Fipronil had been used on the birds he bought.

Eggs tainted with the insecticide first were discovered in Belgium in early June, weeks before the public would be made aware of a food safety scare now affecting several European countries. Supermarkets have since pulled millions of eggs from their shelves.

The European Commission has told food safety officials that chicken meat also was contaminated with Fipronil. It is commonly used by veterinarians to treat fleas and ticks in pets, but is banned for treating animals like chickens that are part of the human food chain.

Eggs tainted with the insecticide were discovered in Belgium in early June. and in the Netherlands. Authorities there are investigating how it came illegally into contact with poultry. But questions have been raised as to why alerts went out long after the finding.

The Dutch government's health institute, citing the World Health Organization and European food safety authority, says that in the few known cases of Fipronil poisoning in humans — mostly deliberate overdoses — the insecticide can lead to nausea, vomiting, dizziness and epileptic fits.

Oh, lovely!

Dutch arrest two suspects in tainted eggs scandal.

Dutch investigators arrested two suspects Thursday over Europe's widening tainted egg scandal, as Denmark announced that 20 contaminated tonnes had been sold there.

Danish food authorities said boiled and peeled eggs, imported from a Belgian supplier, had been found to contain traces of the fipronil insecticide that has seen millions of eggs pulled from supermarket shelves across Europe.

The eggs were mostly sold to cafes and caterers, Danish authorities said, stressing that the level of the insecticide in the eggs was too low to pose a health risk to humans. More at link.
http://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/world/dutch-arrest-two-suspects-in-tainted-eggs-scandal/ar-AApPxW8
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Thousands of contaminated eggs recalled in the UK - but no threat to Ireland yet.

“It is likely that the number of eggs that have come to the UK is closer to 700,000 than the 21,000 we previously believed had been imported,” said the Food Standards Agency, a government department.

“However, as this represents 0.007% of the eggs we consume in the UK every year, it remains the case that it is very unlikely that there is any risk to public health from consuming these foods.”

But despite millions of eggs being recalled across eight European countries over the past week, there doesn’t seem to be a threat here in Ireland.
More at link.
http://www.msn.com/en-ie/news/other/thousands-of-contaminated-eggs-recalled-in-the-uk-but-no-threat-to-ireland-yet/ar-AApPHEq

Update: I keep checking the list of countries affected by this and guess what, the one name I was looking for is still not on it, so I checked the egg boxes from Tesco and ALL are marked 'Magyar termék' (Hungarian product). This is mandatory here if anything is home made so that explains why Hungary is not on the list. This country has many local egg producers so they don't need to import eggs. However, I do understand that, for safety's sake, Lidl and Aldi have withdrawn their eggs just in case. It may be, that like Tescos, they source their eggs within Hungary but are hedging their bets. As I eat eggs every day the news that the ones I consume are 'home-grown' is most satisfying. LL