Germans say dioxin animal feed sent to Austria
Date: 14-Apr-03
Country: GERMANY
This was part of a consignment of about 2,500 tonnes contaminated with dioxin produced by an animal feed plant in the eastern state of Brandenburg and sent to farms and other feed makers in Germany.
Dioxin is banned in both human food and animal feed as it can cause cancer in humans. But officials said this week they do not view contamination levels in the current case as a danger to health.
Officials have completed the first investigation of the plant's delivery list and Austria appears to be the only non-German country which received some of the contaminated feed, said Jens-Uwe Schade, spokesman for the Brandenburg state agriculture ministry.
But it cannot be ruled out that some of the feed was resold by traders, he added.
Authorities are investigating whether burning coal to heat animal feed caused the contamination, which took place in an uncertain time span between October 2002 and January/February 2003, Schade added.
Officials do not believe contamination was caused by error or negligence.
The latest suspect feed was found during routine tests on a farm in Potsdam-Mittelmark, Brandenburg authorities said earlier this week.
Original samples had seven times permitted dioxin levels but it is still unknown whether other consignments had such high contamination.
The production company which delivered feed to the farm has been sealed off. About 50 farms in Brandenburg received suspect feed are under observation while tests are made.
The south German state of Bavaria said last week that 27 tonnes of the feed were delivered to a compound feed maker in Bavaria which used it to make horse and rabbit food. This is now being traced.
The European Union Commission and Germany's federal Agriculture Ministry have been informed because farms in other parts of Germany have received deliveries.
In February an alert in Germany and the Netherlands was caused after feed produced in the eastern state of Thuringia was also found to be contaminated with dioxin.