On Saturday evening, Ecolo called for as much transparency as possible during the investigation into how eggs got contaminated by insecticide. Its co-President Patrick Dupriez has asked the Federal Food Chain Protection Agency (Afsca) to let them know what tests, especially toxicology tests, they have done. “I am also impatient to talk to Afsca and the Minister in Parliament”, he told the Belga agency.
“We are faced with a situation that raises a lot of questions”, Mr Dupriez admits. He said Afsca knew about the contamination in June. “What has happened since then?”
The Ecolo co-President is also asking about the tests done over the last few days. “It is possible the level of contamination was much higher”, he explained. Quarantine measures were imposed on Belgian chicken farms over the last few months due to the presence of bird flu. The farmers have been struggling to get rid of red lice since, Mr Dupriez explained. It is possible that a product used to get rid of this parasite contained Fipronil, which is forbidden in the treatment of animals destined for the food chain.
“What happened with the eggs from two or three months ago? How can Afsca test eggs that have been stored for weeks?” he asks.
The Green co-President thinks the current situation makes him question how easy it is to survey the food industry. He reiterated that the whole thing came to light because of a farmer. Mr Dupriez has called for more thorough checks on products that will be used in industrial farming.
(Source: Belga)
