Hungary pulls tainted egg products from shelves

August 16, 2017 | 16:13

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BUDAPEST: Hungary on Tuesday (Aug 15) became the latest European country to withdraw egg products imported from Germany containing the insecticide fipronil.

Millions of eggs have been pulled from supermarket shelves and destroyed across Europe and dozens of poultry farms closed since the discovery of contamination with fipronil, which can harm human health, was made public on Aug 1. (AFP/TENGKU Bahar)

The EU member state's food safety agency Nebih said it had ordered the withdrawal of Asian-style frozen foods imported from Germany by a Hungarian catering trade supplier.

"The Hungarian firm supplied catering units exclusively," Nebih said, adding that all of the suppliers' clients have been informed of the withdrawal order.

The move followed a notification by Germany to the EU's food safety alert system that traces of fipronil had been found in the products of the exporter, Nebih said in a statement posted on its website.

The insecticide has now been discovered in eggs in 17 European countries since the scandal came to light at the start of August and was even found as far away as Hong Kong.

Millions of eggs have been pulled from supermarket shelves and dozens of poultry farms closed, with the European Commission due to hold a crisis meeting in September.

Fipronil, an insecticide, is commonly used to get rid of fleas, lice and ticks from animals but is banned in the European Union from use in the food industry.

Belgium became the first country to officially notify the EU's food safety alert system of the presence of tainted eggs on Jul 20, followed by the Netherlands and Germany.

However, the news did not go public until Aug 1.

The EU insists there is no threat to humans, but the World Health Organisation says that when eaten in large quantities it can harm people's kidneys, liver and thyroid glands.

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