Dioxin Scare Closes Farms in 3 Countries

EU - Belgian, Dutch and German authorities have closed almost 400 farms after traces of a carcinogenic chemical were found in animal feed, the European Commission said Monday.

EU spokesman Philip Tod said tests were under way to check if the dioxins had made their way into the human food chain.

The Belgian food safety agency said tainted hydrochloric acid used in the production of animal feed had caused the dioxin contamination. The fat is mixed with other feed for the livestock industry.

The Commission said Belgium and the Netherlands had acted quickly to shut down farms and determine where the contamination came from. Seven German farms had also been closed, it said.

The Belgian food safety agency closed 300 more farms Monday to add to the 96 pig and chicken farms it shut down Friday.

Seven years ago, a dioxin crisis led to the slaughter of millions of chickens and thousands of pigs in Belgium.

The agency said levels of contamination were far below the levels found in 1999, when dioxins entered the human food chain through contaminated animal feed.

Source: AP via MSN Money