Friday, January 7, 2011

Dioxin: Contaminated German feed level '77 times limit'

Animal feeds producer Harles and Jentzsch production facility in  Uetersen, Germany
Tests from the Harles und Jentzsch plant in northern Germany found excessive levels of dioxin

Newly released test results on a batch of contaminated German animal feed suggest it contained more than 77 times the approved amount of dioxin.

Some 4,700 German farms have been shut after tests in Schleswig-Holstein found excessive levels of the toxic chemical.

Initially the scare was confined to Germany, but then it emerged that a batch of eggs had been exported to Holland and from there to Britain.

South Korea has blocked imports of German pork and poultry products.

German officials are investigating possible "illegal activity" after a company allegedly supplied 25 animal feed makers with 3,000 tonnes of contaminated fatty acids.

Officials have traced the contamination to the Harles und Jentzsch plant in the northern state of Schleswig-Holstein, where oils intended for use in biofuels were distributed for use in animal feed.

"The first indications point to a high level of illegal activity," said a spokesman for Agriculture Minister Ilse Aigner on Friday.

"There are indications that the company was not even officially registered, in order not to expose itself to official controls," he added.

Egg ban

A sample test from the plant last March had found more than double the acceptable level of 0.75 nanograms of dioxin per 1kg of fatty acids used in animal feed.

The source of the problem seems to be a plant in northern Germany which makes a wide variety of material to be used in animal feed, but also in industrial processes like paper-making.

Somehow, a substance containing dioxin which shouldn't have been used in food for animals found its way into (on the current reckoning) 3,000 tonnes of feed. Prosecutors are investigating whether that was by design, perhaps to save money, or by accident.

But the difficulty for the authorities as they try to reassure the public is that information keeps changing.

Initially, 1,000 farms in Germany were closed because they had taken feed from the processing plant. Then 4,709 farms and businesses were closed.

Initially, the problem was said to be confined to Germany. Then, it was revealed that some affected eggs were exported to the Netherlands and then, in liquid form, to Britain for turning into foods such as mayonnaise or pastry.

Authorities in Brussels, London and Berlin say that, even though the levels of dioxin found have exceeded legal limits, they are still not dangerous. You would need to ingest a lot of dioxin before the risk of cancer rose, they say.

The latest test results to be released by the state of Schleswig-Holstein's agriculture ministry found the much higher levels.

Health officials only learned about the excessive level on 27 December, said a spokesman for the state agriculture ministry. The cause of the delay between the test results and the notification of the ministry remains unclear.

The extent of the problem was only revealed earlier this week when German officials said 3,000 tonnes of feed had been affected. They say the closures - mostly affecting pig farms in Germany's Lower Saxony region - are only a precaution.

Authorities believe some 150,000 tons of feed for poultry and swine containing industrial fat have been fed to livestock across the country.

A doctor from the town of Havixbeck, near Munster, has lodged a criminal complaint of attempted murder and severe injury against Harles und Jentzsch, saying the company had acted out of greed.

Last week, more than 1,000 German farms were banned from selling eggs after dioxin was found in eggs and poultry.

Germany's agriculture ministry said most of the closed farms were ones raising pigs.

The ministry said the farms would not be allowed to make any deliveries until they had been checked and found to be clear of contamination.

There were no immediate reports of health problems connected to the contaminated feed, it added.

By: BBC News

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