German Firm Distributes Feed Contaminated by Dioxin

Added by Monique Robinson on January 7, 2011

The suspicion that feed fat made by a German company had been contaminated by dioxin has been confirmed by laboratory test, said a regional German health ministry on Thursday.

The feed fat, some 3,000 tonnes of fatty acids to be used in industrial applications, has reportedly been distributed to around 25 animal feed makers by the German firm Harles und Jentzsch in Schleswig-Holstein in the northern parts of the country.

The fat has been banned from consumption after tests showed dioxin levels higher, or much higher, than the legally permitted levels in nine samples out of 20.

As a result, some 1,200 chicken, turkey and pig farms, predominantly in northern Germany, have been forced to halt production. 11 German states have been affected by the contamination.

At the end of last year, eggs containing levels of dioxin higher than those permitted were also found in Germany. German authorities have reported to the executive commission of the EU that 136,000 (nine tones) of eggs from contaminated German farms had been exported to the Netherlands.

Britain also fears they may have dioxin-contaminated eggs on the market.

Dioxin is a known carcinogenic that can cause miscarriages and other health problems in humans.