Thousands of fipronil contaminated Dutch eggs in German supermarkets

German supermarkets removed tens of thousands of Dutch eggs from themselves because they were found to be contaminated by toxic insecticide fipronil. The German Ministry of Agriculture says that there is no danger to public health, NOS reports.

It involved around 73 thousand eggs from an organic chicken farmer in the Netherlands. They were delivered between May 17th and June 4th and were sold in six states all over Germany. Some of the eggs were already sold to consumers before the contamination was discovered.

Fipronil is an insecticide used against lice, ticks and fleas. It is also used in flea collars for cats and dogs. The World Health Organization considers fipronil to be "moderately toxic" to humans. In large quantities it can damage the liver, kidneys and thyroid gland. The European regulations for the use of fipronil was adjusted on January 1st, 2017. Fipronil is banned from being used in pesticides in high concentrations. 

In the summer of last year it was discovered that Barneveld company ChickFriend used this substance to combat blood lice at dozens of Dutch and Belgian farms. Thousands of chickens and countless eggs had to be destroyed. The substance was found in products in 45 countries. The fipronil crisis caused millions of euros of damages to the poultry sector. 

A year later, the crisis is not completely over in the Netherlands. Last month it was discovered that eggs from a chicken farm in Tilligte, Overijssel contained the insecticide. And production is still partially halted at over 100 companies because there is still fipronil in the chicken manure, according to the broadcaster.

In May it was announced that the poultry sector is introducing additional controls to be able to better and more quickly detect the presence of fipronil