Contaminated liquid egg scare grows
Fourteen tons of contaminated liquid egg that originated on continental Europe has entered the UK, say health chiefs.
The EU executive says the processed foodstuff – destined for use in goods like pastries and mayonnaise – has been exported to Britain but says the risk to human health is very low.
Public health officials are now trying to determine if and how the liquid egg has entered the food chain.
The alert came after it was discovered that poultry feed contaminated by toxic dioxins was sent to more than 1,000 poultry and pig farms in Germany.
Some of the eggs from those farms were then transported to Holland.
“These eggs were mixed with other non-contaminated eggs to make pasteurised liquid egg. This pasteurised liquid egg has been distributed to the UK," says the Food Standards Agency. “The mixing of the eggs will have diluted the levels of dioxins and they are not thought to be a risk to health. The FSA is currently liaising with the industry and will provide further updates as information becomes available.”
Germany has closed more than 4,700 farms as a result of the scare.
Dioxins are chemicals formed by industrial processes and waste burning and have been shown to contribute to higher cancer rates and affect pregnant women.