The Spanish Agency for Consumption, Food Safety and Nutrition ( Aecosan ), a department of the Ministry of Health, said on Wednesday that so far no eggs have been distributed in Spain contaminated by the toxic insecticide friponil, as have been found in several European countries including the United Kingdom.
“From the information provided by the European authorities, it is confirmed that so far no products have been distributed in Spain,” reports Aecosan on its website.
The Spanish agency was informed of the detection of fipronil in eggs by Belgium on 20 July through the European Rapid Alert System for Food and Feed (Rasff).
Fipronil can treat lice and ticks in chickens, but should not be used on food-producing animals because of its toxicity. Dutch and Belgian authorities say that they have have pinned the source of the insecticide to a supplier of cleaning products in the Netherlands.
Shops in Belgium, the Netherlands and Germany, have removed the eggs from sale as a precaution.
About 180 poultry farms in the Netherlands have also been temporarily shut in recent days while investigations are held.
The European Commission said it had first learned about the contamination in late July when it received an official notification from Belgium but had not yet established whether the country had broken any rules by not notifying sooner.
However, the authorities are still working to “identify the destination of products already shipped that are likely to be contaminated”, the ministry said in a statement.
