Germany's Dioxin Scare

On January 5th, the German Ministry of Agriculture announced that 4,709 farms in the country had been closed due to 150,000 tonnes of contaminated animal feed. The animal feed was found to have large amounts of dioxins in it.

Dioxins are chemical toxins that are by products of burning rubbish and industrial activities. They can cause birth defects, miscarriages, damages to reproduction and immune systems, and in some cases cancerous growths.

Harles und Jentzch was the company that produced the contaminated material for the feed. They claim that they did nothing illegal, but many angry German farmers want them charged for the damage they have caused. Samples of the fatty acids that they sold to feed makers were found to have 77 times the legal amount of dioxins in them. There was also speculation that the company knew about this in March last year, but failed to report it and continued to sell the fatty acids.

Chicken, pig and turkey farms were shut down and their production halted, but farms that produced eggs were the most affected with illegal levels of dioxin greatly exceeded in their products. The eggs had been exported around Germany, affecting eleven of its states, and also to The Netherlands and Britain. The closing of these farms and destruction of their products is estimated to cost farmers 40-60 million euros a week.

Several countries such as Slovakia and South Korea have banned imports of German products. The Agriculture Ministry has given the go ahead for around 3,000 farms to reopen once the dioxin levels in their products were deemed safe enough to have no immediate threat to public health, but 1,600 farms still remain closed.

With egg sales declining rapidly, exporting halted and farmer’s losing money after much of their produce was destroyed, the scandal continues to affect Germany as the Ministry of Agriculture tries to reverse the mess the dioxin contaminated feed has made.

Sources:

Germany closes 4,700 farms in dioxin scare
Germany vows action after Dioxin Scare
Contamination Levels in Dioxin Scandal
Dioxin scandal: Is this just the tip of the egg-bergs?