Around 3,000 of the 4,700 farms closed in quarantine measures aimed at preventing the spread of dioxin tainted produce in Germany have now re-opened. However, elsewhere in Europe, the crisis is still front-page news; Danish authorities have announced that some of the toxic feed responsible for the recent health scare may have been imported into Denmark.

German officials have promised to take action to prevent such contamination from reoccurring. Speaking to the press, Agriculture Minister Ilse Aigner said "This is a big blow for our farmers. They have totally innocently been dragged into this situation by the sick machinations of a few people; the judiciary has to clamp down hard. " Aigner railed against Harles und Jentzsch, the supplier at the centre of the scandal, saying "It is tough to shake off the suspicion, given what we know so far, that criminal energy was combined with an alarming unscrupulousness. The judiciary must clamp down hard."

The crisis has seen over 100,000 eggs destroyed, 8,000 chickens culled, product recall actions launched and thousands of farms closed pending test results. The German government has attempted to assuage fears, claiming that tests conducted so far indicate no immediate risk to public health. The German Agriculture Ministry has declared that tests on pork showed dioxin levels to be acceptable.

States put restrictions on German exports

Nevertheless, several states, including Slovakia and Russia, have suspended sales or increased controls on meat and eggs imported from Germany. The European Commission have accused South Korea, the first country to suspend imports, of overreacting.

The European Union insists there are no grounds for a ban on German products; Frederic Vincent, a spokesperson for European Health Commissioner John Dalli, commented that this was "Because the farms have been closed and farm products which have been delivered are blocked, awaiting analysis."

Even so, Slovakia has become the first EU state to impose restrictions on German produce while they conduct tests to assess dioxin levels. A statement from the Slovakian ministry explained “The agriculture ministry has ordered checks in shops and warehouses in response to the discovery of dioxins in certain foods, Pending the results of laboratory tests, the sale of eggs and poultry imported from Germany will be temporarily suspended."

Welsh baking firm used contaminated eggs

In Britain, Memory Lane Cakes Ltd, a Cardiff based company which supplies to Tesco and Morrisons, was found to have used dioxin-contaminated liquid egg in a batch of products. Britain, and the Netherlands, where the liquid egg originated, have played down the public health risk with the Food Standards Agency asserting that the liquid egg, which was diluted with non-contaminated eggs from elsewhere, does not pose a health threat.

Officials in Berlin have said that no contaminated feed had been exported, and only 136,000 eggs, of Germany’s annual production of 10 billion, went abroad.

Kim Vandrup Sigsgaard, of the Danish Veterinary and Food Administration, explained "We know that one firm in Denmark has bought some feed from one of the German establishments, and that it could contain dioxin."

Sigsgaard said that an investigation would be launched in Denmark and that the Rapid Alert System for Food and Feed, a European Union food safety system, had alerted Danish authorities. However, neither the German feed maker nor the Danish firm could be identified until they had been notified and it remains uncertain whether the feed had been delivered to its Danish purchaser.

Harles und Jentzsch knew about elevated dioxin levels

In Germany, pressure continues to mount on supplier Harles und Jentzsch, as they have now been accused of fraud and tax evasion in addition to a possible breach of health regulations. Levels of dioxin up to 77 times the legal limit were found in samples taken at the firm’s factory.

While the company have claimed that they alerted officials when they became aware of the contamination, a German Agriculture Ministry spokesperson said on Friday (7^th) that Harles and Jentzsch was aware of elevated levels of dioxin in its fat as early as March 2010, eight months earlier than previously thought.