Dioxin alert closes German farms

Nearly 5,000 farms in Germany have been closed down while scientists investigate the contamination of animal feed with a highly toxic chemical.

German authorities say poultry and pig farms received 3,000 tonnes of feed tainted with dioxin.

EU officials say that despite its toxicity, contaminated eggs do not pose an immediate health risk.

But Christiane Gross from the consumer group Foodwatch said: ‘You won’t drop down dead after eating three contaminated eggs. The problem with dioxin is the long-term effect. It accumulates in the body, and, along with higher concentrations, risks of cancer, for instance, rise.’

The World Health Organisation classes dioxin as one of the dangerous ‘dirty dozen’ persistent organic pollutants.

EU authorities say 14 tonnes of German eggs from suspect farms were shipped to the UK. It is not known if they have been used in British food manufacture.

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