Fipronil-tainted eggs found in Latvia

Latvia has become the latest country hit by Europe's egg contamination scandal as several dozens kilograms of egg products from Germany have been found in the Baltic country, according to information from the European Commission's rapid alert system.

The Rapid Alert System for Food and Feed (RASFF) said that of the 143 kg of raw egg products of German origin, imported by Latvia and meant for making omelets, 32 kg contained the banned insecticide fipronil. Citing a RASFF notification, the Latvian Food and Veterinary Service informed that 7 kg of the egg products have been pulled from the market.

Lab tests showed, however, the level of fipronil found in the tainted egg products were almost 50 times lower than the level regarded as potentially harmful to human health, the Latvian food authority said.

Earlier this summer, the RASFF warned that 143 kg of possibly contaminated egg products from Germany had been delivered to Latvia through Estonia. Such raw products are not sold in retail but are used by catering businesses in cooking.

The Food and Veterinary Service established the recipient of the German-made egg products and suspended their distribution.

In August, the food authority also started testing eggs available on the local market to make sure they did not contain any fipronil. Nine of the egg samples examined by the Food and Veterinary Service have been tested negative for the insecticide, while the testing of the tenth sample is still in process.