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Several European countries face a growing scare over millions of eggs that have been contaminated with the insecticide fipronil, which is potentially harmful to humans. The contamination originated from a plant in the Netherlands, which exported eggs in 15 other EU countries.
The European commission lamented that some countries, like Belgium, officially notified the EU’s food safety alert system only at the end of July, while they knew about the contamination since early June. Dutch authorities have temporarily closed 138 poultry farms and may cull millions of chickens. Belgium has blocked products from 57 egg producers and several supermarkets have withdrawn affected eggs. German authorities blocked the distribution of thousands of eggs while supermarket chain Aldi pulled all Dutch eggs from its German stores.
The EU Agriculture ministers will meet on 26 September to assess the situation and the possible flaws in the crisis management coordination.
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