Contamination of eggs clearly caused by criminals: German agriculture minister

[August 08, 2017] FRANKFURT (Reuters) - Germany's agriculture minister said on Tuesday that the contamination of millions of eggs with a potentially harmful insecticide was caused by criminal activity.

"It is criminal, that is very clear," Christian Schmidt told German television station ARD on Tuesday.

He gave no further details.

Retailers in several European countries have pulled millions of eggs from supermarket shelves as the scare over the use of insecticide fipronil widened. Millions of hens may need to be culled in the Netherlands.

Schmidt said no more contaminated eggs should be on store shelves in Germany by now.

The World Health Organisation considers fipronil to be moderately toxic and says very large quantities can cause organ damage. Dutch and Belgian authorities have pinned the source of the insecticide to a supplier of cleaning products in the Netherlands.

(Reporting by Gernot Heller, Writing by Maria Sheahan, Editing by Angus MacSwan)

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