Germany weighs tougher food controls

Germany said on Monday that it is considering tighter controls on animal feed suppliers after excessive levels of highly toxic dioxin were found in some of its products.

Sales have been frozen at thousands of German farms after animals ate the tainted feed.

Dioxin can cause cancer in humans.

Agriculture Minister Ilse Aigner said regulation was being looked at.

“It needs to be clarified whether companies that supply raw material for feed should face a stricter licensing process,” she told the German daily Sueddeutsche Zeitung.

She said import bans on German goods were “unjustified” and insisted her country’s food products were safe.

Her comments come after South Korea banned the import of German pork, a move the European Commission has labelled as disproportionate.

Seoul followed Slovakia and Russia in suspending sales or increasing checks on German food of animal origin.

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