Dioxin food: SPD spokeswoman praises European warning system
On Tuesday, November 3rd, 2004, the Dutch authorities informed via the European Rapid Alert System about dioxin contamination in animal feed from a Dutch company. In the company that produces potato products (e.g. french fries), a dioxin-containing clay mineral kaolinite from Germany was used as an auxiliary for sorting potatoes. The authorities in the Netherlands assume that the by-products sold as animal feed (e.g. sorted potatoes, potato skins, potato pieces) contain the contaminated additive kaolinite. According to current knowledge, 162 farms were supplied in the Netherlands, eight in Belgium and three fattening farms in Germany (North Rhine-Westphalia). The companies have been closed by the responsible authorities, so that no food from these companies is currently being sold on the market.
It is good that the European rapid warning system informed the German authorities immediately and they acted immediately.
However, it has once again become clear that improperly produced and contaminated feed can pose a danger to consumers if the poison is also found in the food. Feed as a raw material for food must be subject to the same legal regulations and controls as food. With the new Food and Feed Code (LFGB), we will create the conditions for a uniform legal framework to apply to food and feed and for greater transparency and consumer information to be achieved in the interests of greater consumer safety.
Feed is part of the food chain. Neither dioxin nor any other poison or other pollutant has any place in feed or food.
Source: Berlin [spd]
