Dutch arrest two in tainted egg scandal

Dutch investigators arrested two men over the illegal use of pesticide at poultry farms that sparked a food safety scare in several countries.

The two men are directors of a company that allegedly used Fipronil in egg farms, Dutch prosecutors said.

Although no one has been reported as falling sick as result of the tainted eggs, prosecutors said there was evidence that public health had been threatened by “the delivery or application of the biocide Fipronil in poultry houses in the egg sector”.

The insecticide scandal became public on August 1 when authorities in the Netherlands ordered eggs taken off supermarket shelves and urged shoppers to throw away any they had.

Contaminated eggs have since been discovered in Germany, Belgium, Sweden, Switzerland, Britain and France, with several supermarkets taking millions of eggs off the shelves.

Fipronil is commonly used in veterinary products to get rid of fleas, lice and ticks, but it is banned by the European Union from being used to treat animals destined for human consumption, such as chickens.

In large quantities, the insecticide is considered by the World Health Organisation to be “moderately hazardous” to humans and can have dangerous effects on people’s kidneys, livers and thyroid glands.

The raids in the Netherlands were part of a joint operation with Belgian health authorities.