BERLIN, Aug. 8 (Xinhua) -- Criminal organizations may be to blame for the ongoing Fipronil egg scandal, German Minister for Agriculture Christian Schmidt said on Tuesday.
Speaking to German television station ARD, Schmidt described the contamination of eggs with the poisonous Fipronil insecticide as "clearly criminal."
"If criminal energy has been put to work here in something resembling a network, we have to combat it with full force...," Schmidt said, demanding that the perpetrators be punished harshly.
Authorities currently have leads to Belgium and the Netherlands, although it remains unclear where the illegal insecticide was added to otherwise permissible livestock care products.
Fipronil is a pesticide which is employed to combat lice. It is considered slightly poisonous by the World Health Organization (WHO) and is hence forbidden for animals destined for the food chain to prevent damage to the human liver, thyroid and kidney.
Following revelations last week that eggs in the Netherlands had been found to be contaminated with Fipronil, Schmidt has estimated that 12 of Germany's states were affected. German supermarkets have stopped selling eggs as a precaution while 138 Dutch poultry farms have been shut down.
In total, 180 farms in the Netherlands are confirmed to have used an anti-lice poison which contained Fipronil. In one case the concentration was so high that Dutch authorities warned consumers about "acute danger" of the affected eggs.
On Tuesday, Schmidt reiterated his disappointment with Belgian authorities that were aware of the contamination in June, but failed to inform their colleagues in neighboring countries.
"It is not in line with the principles of the rapid alert system in place to be aware (of the scandal) in June and then to inform us at the end of July," the minister said, adding that this should be changed in the future.
Schmidt further called on the European Commission and the European Council to look into the matter.
Belgium and Dutch authorities have since vowed to offer full transparency on their national investigations.
According to Schmidt, there were no more contaminated eggs in German supermarkets. The key task for now is to trace eggs which were contained in processed foods.
