Dioxin, a poisonous chemical compound produced by heavy industrial processes, burning rubbish and biofuel manufacturing, has been found at above legal limits in eggs at a farm in central Germany.  The discovery marks the eighth German farm where contamination has been reported since April this year.  

The dioxin tainted eggs were discovered on a farm in the state of Hesse during the farm’s own routine safety checks. The other seven discoveries were in the states of Lower Saxony and North Rhine Westphalia, which borders Hesse.

Eggs from the farm are being recalled, though, as with the other recent discoveries, German authorities have said the eggs pose no acute danger to consumers.  

In January last year, feed firm Harles and Jentzsch sparked a Europe-wide health scare when it revealed it had found dioxin contamination at high levels in its feed; the company had been manufacturing animal feeds using by-products from biofuel manufacture. By the time a health alert was issued tainted eggs and meat had been shipped abroad. The scandal resulted in the closure of over 4,000 pig and poultry farms in Germany.

As a result of last year’s dioxin scandal, German agriculture minister Ilse Aigner introduced strict new legislation on animal feed.

Although experts had thought contaminated feed was responsible for the tainted eggs discovered on German farms earlier this year, this was found not to be the case. While the cause of some contaminations remains a mystery, others were shown to be due to contaminated earth on the farms.

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