The scandal over contaminated eggs in Germany is growing. To protect their customers from the toxic Fipronil, the discounter Aldi has pulled all eggs from its stores. But what exactly is Fipronil?
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/A. Weigel
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Fipronil is an insecticide that - in an ideal world - should never find its way into a chicken coop. But somehow it got mixed in with "Dega 16," a cleaning agent and sanitizer used on many poultry farms. The cleaning agent has not only been used for pest control in the Netherlands, but also in the German state of Lower Saxony, where eggs are now being thoroughly examined to see if they contain traces of Fipronil. Farms where the chemical was sprayed have been closed and eggs pulled from stores.
"Fipronil should never have been used around chickens," Leif Miller, director of the German environment association NABU (Nature And Biodiversity Conservation Union) said in a press statement. "But this new scandal doesn't come as a surprise. The European Union needs to fundamentally change their agrarian- and food policies, so that ecological and nature-friendly farming becomes worthwhile again."
What exactly is Fipronil?
Fipronil is highly toxic and used as a pesticide to protect crops as well as in veterinary medicine to kill off fleas, lice, ticks, roaches and mites. It is not allowed anywhere near animals in the food production chain, including chicken. Fipronil is also dangerous for honey bees. To protect the endangered insects, the use of Fipronil on corn seeds has long been prohibited.
How dangerous is Fipronil?
The insecticide can be absorbed by the skin or ingested orally. Eating eggs contaminated by Fipronil can lead to liver, kidney and thyroid damage. Having said that you would need ingest a large proportion of eggs. Those who did might have to deal with irritated eyes and skin, nausea and vomiting.
Chickens that were treated for lice could have absorbed fipronil through their feathersImage: picture-alliance/dpa
With current Fipronil levels, Germany's Federal Institute for Risk Assessment estimates that a child who weighs around 16 kilograms (35 pounds) could eat 1.7 eggs per day without reaching the threshold where Fipronil levels become dangerous. This includes products that contain egg, like pancakes or pasta. An adult who weights 65 kilograms could eat seven eggs a day.
The levels currently measured in contaminated eggs aren't very high and thus not dangerous for adults, however authorities and experts have advised parents to not let their children eat contaminated eggs.
How did Fipronil get into the eggs?
If a pest infestation at a farm is treated with Fipronil, the animals' skin - or feathers, in case of chickens - could absorb the insecticide. Traces can then also be found in animal products, like eggs. Through "Dega 16," Fipronil got into the chickens and thus into the eggs as well.
How do you recognize Fipronil-contaminated eggs?
In the European Union, every egg is stamped with a number. That's how consumers can retrace the country of origin and even which farm the egg is from. German media have published lists of the numbers that mark contaminated eggs.
Food scandals in Germany
Millions of Dutch eggs contaminated with insecticide have made it into the German market. From eggs to horsemeat, strawberries to sprouts, DW takes a look at recent food scandals that have affected the country.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa
Toxic eggs
Millions of eggs had to be recalled in Belgium, the Netherlands and Germany after they were found to contain the insecticide fipronil. The highly toxic substance can cause damage to the liver, thyroid glands and kidneys if ingested in large amounts. More than 150 poultry farms in the Netherlands had to be shut down and a number of German supermarkets pulled eggs from their shelves.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/Huisman Media
Beef with Brazil
A number of countries banned meat imports from Brazil in March 2017 after a police investigation found meat packers had been selling rotten produce. In some cases, carcinogenic chemicals had been used to mask the smell of bad meat. Germany imported around 114,000 tons of meat and meat products from Brazil in 2016. But German authorities said no tainted meat had been sold in the country.
Image: Picture alliance/NurPhoto/C. Faga
Mice in Bavarian bakeries
Earlier this year, German consumer protection group Foodwatch reported that mold and mice had been uncovered in several large-scale Bavarian bakeries. The watchdog cited the results of 69 inspections between 2013 and 2016. Rodent hair and chew marks were found on one bakery's goods. Another establishment had cockroaches crawling through flour and a mound of rodent feces baked into a wheat roll.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/P. Knecht
Horsemeat lasagna anyone?
In 2013, millions of people across Europe discovered that a number of meat products passed off as being pork or beef were in fact horsemeat. It all started when Irish food safety inspectors detected horsemeat in frozen beef burgers. Further investigation found that ready-to-eat meals in a number of EU countries, including Germany, also contained horsemeat.
Image: Reuters
Strawberry surprise
In 2012, more than 11,000 German schoolchildren were taken ill with vomiting and diarrhea because they ate from the same batch of deep-frozen strawberries. The mass food poisoning spanned almost 500 schools and day care centers in the east of the country. Fortunately, many of the victims had a speedy recovery. Only 32 were taken to hospital.
Image: Mehr
Dioxin health scare
In early 2011, thousands of German farms, most of them in the state of Lower Saxony, were temporarily shut after they received animal feed laced with dioxine. German officials said the tainted feed had been fed to hens and pigs, contaminating eggs, poultry meat and some pork. Contaminated exports were shipped as far as Britain, the Czech Republic, the Netherlands and Poland.
Image: picture alliance / ZB
E. coli outbreak
Also in 2011, a strain of Escherichia coli O104:H4, a bacteria found in vegetables, caused a deadly outbreak of illness in northern Germany. More than 4,000 people were infected - showing symptoms like bloody diarrhea and hemolytic uremic syndrome, which can lead to kidney failure. More than 50 people died. A sprout farm in Lower Saxony is believed to be the source of the outbreak.
