A German egg farm has an answer for the smokers wondering why they aren't craving an after-breakfast cigarette: the much-needed nicotine came with the scrambled eggs.

The Lower Saxony based company Frühstücksei, Europe's largest egg producer, has recalled 60,000 of its eggs after nicotine used to clean some of its stalls found its way into the freshly laid eggs.

A supplier for grocery stores in five German states, health officials said eggs from Frühstücksei do not pose a public health threat.

Company suspects sabotage

Frühstücksei announced in a statement on Friday that it "had no explanation" for how nicotine made its way into the hens' stalls, adding that an outside company is responsible for cleaning the stalls and making sure mites, rats and flies are kept out of contact with the hens.

Company representatives insisted industrial sabotage was behind the rotten eggs as nicotine was one toxin they did not test for.

Frühstücksei said it will now begin checking nicotine levels in the eggs as part of routine tests for dioxin, salmonella and pesticides. Nicotine tests were not conducted earlier because the cleaning company was prohibited from using such products.

Prosecutors in Oldenburg, who caught whiff of the scandal via an anonymous tip, said they saw "no evidence" of sabotage and are investigating a potential breach of health laws as using nicotine-based cleaning products is against the law.

The recall action is expected to cost Frühstücksei several million euros.