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 Tensions have risen between agricultural ministers in Belgium, the
Netherlands and Germany after traces of moderately toxic insecticide
fipronil were found in batches of eggs, linked by authorities to a
Dutch supplier of cleaning products.
While initially the Belgian food safety regulator drew criticism
from abroad for not acting fast enough after being made aware of
fipronil contamination, Belgium's agriculture minister on Wednesday
said it was the Dutch who were too slow to respond to inquiries.
"Blaming and shaming will bring us nowhere and I want to stop this,"
EU Commissioner Vytenis Andriukaitis told Reuters in a statement.
Andriukaitis said he hoped to gather a meeting before the end of
September of the ministers concerned, along with the various
national food safety agency representatives.
"We need to work together to draw lessons learnt and move forward
instead of losing energy on finger pointing," he said.
Millions of eggs have been pulled from European supermarket shelves,
though some national regulators have voiced concern that many
contaminated eggs have entered the food chain, mainly through
processed products such as biscuits and cakes.
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While a large amount of contaminated eggs would need to be eaten to
show negative health effects, fipronil is considered moderately
toxic and can cause organ damage in humans.
Fipronil is widely used to treat pets for ticks and fleas but its
use in the food chain, for example to clean out barns, is forbidden.
Dutch authorities on Thursday arrested two directors of the company
at the center of the food safety scare, with prosecutors saying they
suspected them of threatening public health and possession of a
prohibited pesticides.
(Reporting by Robert-Jan Bartunek)
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