Contaminated eggs sold by Aldi in Luxembourg

Luxembourg authorities were informed on Tuesday that a number of egg batches containing Fipronil were sold in the Grand-Duchy by German discount supermarket retailer Aldi.

According to a government statement, contaminated eggs have been sold at Aldi's 13 supermarkets across Luxembourg since July 25. 

Batches X-NL42364-XX and X-NL43868-XX are contaminated with the Fipronil insecticide, and are set to expire on August 15 and August 16.

While the two affected batches have now been removed from the shelves, consumers are warned that eggs sporting the X-NL43868-XX serial number should not be consumed by young children.

The other batch identified by the code X-NL42364-XX poses no health risks to consumers.

Luxembourg and authorities said they were monitoring the situation closely. 

Widespread contamination

The contamination affecting supermarkets across Europe was caused by a product used to disinfect poultry houses, to which a Belgian company illegally added Fipronil, an insecticide commonly used in veterinary products to control fleas, lice and ticks.

However, Fipronil cannot be used to treat animals destined for human consumption, such as poultry.  

The insecticide is considered to be "moderately hazardous" by the World Health Organization and can have harmful effects on people's kidneys, liver and thyroid glands.

Supermarkets in Belgium, the Netherlands and Germany have removed millions of eggs from their shelves, including the discount supermarket giant Aldi, which announced last week it was pulling all Dutch eggs from stores in Germany.

Chicken meat also in scope

On Tuesday, Dutch authorities announced they had started testing chicken meat coming from affected poultry farms to determine whether it was also contaminated.

"We are currently testing chicken meat in the poultry farms where eggs were infected to determine whether the meat is contaminated as well," Tjitte Mastenbroek, spokesman for the Dutch food security agency NVWA, told AFP.

The probe focuses on "a few dozen" farms that produce both eggs and chicken meat, the NVWA said.

Meanwhile, the Dutch Safety Board announced it was opening its own probe into why authorities failed to detect Fipronil in eggs sooner, as well as "the role in this of the poultry sector and Dutch government".

"The way consumers have been informed about the risks of Fipronil is also being investigated," the Hague-based OVV said in a statement.

Millions of chickens now face being culled in the Netherlands as the scandal widens across Europe.

(Reporting by AFP and Wort Staff)