BRATISLAVA, Aug.9 (Xinhua) -- Dutch eggs contaminated with fipronil pesticide have been found in Slovakia, Slovak Agriculture and Rural Development Minister Gabriela Matecna confirmed on Wednesday.
The contaminated eggs were first exported from the Netherlands to companies in Germany, where they were processed. Then the ready-to-eat eggs -- cooked and shelled -- were delivered to Austria and by an Austrian company to the warehouse in Vrbove in west Slovakia.
Matecna added that foodstuffs of Slovak origin always come under strict monitoring on the part of the veterinary administration.
Slovak veterinary inspectors are currently monitoring the process of removing the contaminated products from the warehouse in Vrbove. At the same time they are checking a distribution list in order to find out which food facilities have been supplied with the eggs.
In large quantities, fipronil is an insecticide considered to be "moderately toxic" to humans by the World Health Organization (WHO). It is strictly forbidden in animals intended for human consumption.
Millions of contaminated eggs were withdrawn from the market last week in the Netherlands, Belgium, Germany and Switzerland, after it was discovered that the eggs had traces of Fipronil.
