Dioxin scare spreads to France and Denmark

France and Denmark are the latest countries drawn into Germany’s dioxin food scare after an EU official said tainted animal feed had been exported from Germany to both countries.

“In Denmark these products were used for breeder hens, which are not in fact marketed (for human consumption),” said Frederic Vincent, European Commission health and consumer spokesman, at a daily press briefing in Brussels.

“In the case of France, in the lot exported, apparently the concentration of dioxin was lower than the maximum authorised concentration allowed in EU law for animal feed,” Vincent added.

It was confirmed last week that eggs from German farms which had used the contaminated feed had been exported to the Netherlands, and some were subsequently processed and shipped to Britain for use in consumer products.

The Commission and Germany’s agriculture ministry denied reports that EU member state Slovakia had followed South Korea in imposing an import ban on meat from Germany because of the scare.

“To date, the only country which has suspended imports from Germany is South Korea. To the best of our knowledge no other countries have taken measures affecting European or, in particular, German products,” Vincent said.

Russia has said it might impose tougher controls on German exports, but Vincent said the Commission was not aware that any action had yet been taken by Moscow.