Recall for dioxin in the breakfast egg

Dioxin loaded eggs are being recalled

23/05/2012

Again and again, eggs with a high dioxin exposure reach the market. So also in the recent case of dioxin contaminated eggs from a laying hen in the district of Borken in Münsterland. Because of the toxins contained a recall was currently started for the eggs with the stamp numbers 1-DE-05 22462 and 1-DE-05 22461. Consumers should abstain from eating eggs for health reasons, warn the authorities.

Although the dioxin content of the eggs is not so high that they represent an acute health hazard, but since the toxins accumulate in the human organism, the eggs should better not be consumed with the above stamp numbers, so the warning of the Ministry of the Environment in North Rhine-Westphalia. „With regular intake, the toxins accumulate in the body over decades“, where they „to disorders in the immune system and cancers“ can lead, explained a spokesman for the Ministry.

Environmental toxins in the breakfast egg
Dioxin in the breakfast egg is by no means uncommon, as confirmed by the proof of the environmental toxin in the eggs of the conventional field farm in the district of Borken. Again and again, the dangerous substances enter the food chain in mostly unexplained ways. Only thorough controls and swift action help here. Both seem to have worked well in the current case. The company had found in own controls too high a dioxin exposure (twice the limit) and a significantly increased PCB value (limit exceeded 4.5 times). Subsequently, the delivery of the eggs from the laying hen farm with around 30,000 animals was stopped immediately and a recall for the affected eggs started. As reported by the State Environment Agency NRW, the operation is currently closed. Soil samples were taken for examination to determine if there is a temporary or sustained exposure. On the basis of the samples, the authorities also hope to be able to determine the cause of the contamination.

Cause of the dioxin burden unclear
It was not until the beginning of April that the last dioxin scandal, in which the environmental toxin was detected in eggs from NRW and Lower Saxony, caused a stir. In the district of Minden-Lübbecke an organic poultry farm was closed and around one million eggs had to be destroyed. However, when looking for the causes of the contamination, the soil samples provided no evidence. The values ​​were increased only in two soil samples and to such a small extent that the contamination of the eggs could not be triggered thereby. The actual cause of the dioxin contamination is still unclear and so it remains to be feared that even with the current detection of dioxin in the eggs from Borken in the end no source of environmental toxins can be determined. This would be an extremely unsatisfactory result, especially as identifying the causes of dioxin pollution could potentially help to prevent pollution in the future. (Fp)

Also read about dioxin:
Dioxin in eggs: scandal seems to be widening
Circles withheld information about PCB eggs
Dioxin eggs also in Lower Saxony
Dioxin in organic eggs: causes still unknown
Easter with dioxin eggs from the organic farm
Dioxin eggs could have entered the market
Easily recognize fresh eggs
Health risk from dioxin eggs

Picture: Photograph Austria