German authorities today revealed that yet more eggs contaminated with highly poisonous chemical dioxin had been found on farms in the country. Two farms, this time in the state of Lower Saxony, have been found to be producing eggs contaminated with the chemical, following the discovery of dioxin tainted eggs at three farms in North Rhine Westphalia earlier in the month.  

The Agriculture Ministry, which introduced stricter monitoring measures after a scandal resulting in the closures of over 4,000 farms erupted when by-products of biofuel manufacture were processed into food by German feed company Harles and Jentzsch, announced the discovery of more farms where dioxin have been discovered at above-safe levels.

The state agriculture ministry said the farms had been quarantined and the eggs they had produced recalled.  Although another case of contaminated feed was first suspected, this has been rules out and, to date, the cause of contamination on the five farms remains unknown, though officials are carrying out investigations.

Although tighter food safety laws have been introduced in Germany, there has been speculation in the German Press over their efficacy, as it took over a week for the relevant authorities to be alerted to the first case in the recent spate of dioxin contaminations.

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