Abstract
The following essay examines the Fipronil egg scandal in Europe in more detail in relation to hazards, traceability and PR Issues. While the investigation is still ongoing and a concern, the European Commission stated two key points:
1. The risk to human health remains very low and has been successfully contained.
2. The incident is clearly a result of a criminal act resulting in food fraud.
Introduction
The year 2017 saw history repeat itself as another toxic chemical entered the consumable food market. Europe was rocked by a case of the toxic chemical Fipronil contaminating eggs that were being sold with the purpose of human consumption.
Discussion
Fipronil is a chemical pesticide which is a phenylpyrazole [10]. The molecular mass …show more content…
Egg traceability is somewhat complicated where depending on the production system and organisation of the various activities, each bird or egg may be identified individually or not. Fipronil first became an issue within the EU in November 2016 where the Dutch Food Safety Authority (NVWA) received a tip off about the hazardous chemical. The first official reports of Fipronil in eggs was received by the FASFC on the 2nd of June 2017 by an egg breaking farm [6]. An investigation was then held on the 6th of June on what farms the eggs originated from. This discovered there were two possible sources of contamination: poultry feed and a special treatment against red poultry mites using Dega-16. Once these sources were discovered the FASFC attempted to reach out to the NVWA in attempt to get more information. On 4th July a follow up investigation was carried out into the Dega-16 treatment to assess whether this was the original source of contamination in the eggs. A Belgian poultry cleaning service was then investigated regarding red mite treatments it carried out on poultry farms (13th July 2017). After several attempts at contacting the NVWA and a lack of feedback, the AAC-FF (the European anti-fraud platform) sent an official request to the Netherlands on 6th July 2017. Subsequently, any farms where the Dega-16 treatment was used were checked, eggs were temporarily seized and analysed
The following essay examines the Fipronil egg scandal in Europe in more detail in relation to hazards, traceability and PR Issues. While the investigation is still ongoing and a concern, the European Commission stated two key points:
1. The risk to human health remains very low and has been successfully contained.
2. The incident is clearly a result of a criminal act resulting in food fraud.
Introduction
The year 2017 saw history repeat itself as another toxic chemical entered the consumable food market. Europe was rocked by a case of the toxic chemical Fipronil contaminating eggs that were being sold with the purpose of human consumption.
Discussion
Fipronil is a chemical pesticide which is a phenylpyrazole [10]. The molecular mass …show more content…
Egg traceability is somewhat complicated where depending on the production system and organisation of the various activities, each bird or egg may be identified individually or not. Fipronil first became an issue within the EU in November 2016 where the Dutch Food Safety Authority (NVWA) received a tip off about the hazardous chemical. The first official reports of Fipronil in eggs was received by the FASFC on the 2nd of June 2017 by an egg breaking farm [6]. An investigation was then held on the 6th of June on what farms the eggs originated from. This discovered there were two possible sources of contamination: poultry feed and a special treatment against red poultry mites using Dega-16. Once these sources were discovered the FASFC attempted to reach out to the NVWA in attempt to get more information. On 4th July a follow up investigation was carried out into the Dega-16 treatment to assess whether this was the original source of contamination in the eggs. A Belgian poultry cleaning service was then investigated regarding red mite treatments it carried out on poultry farms (13th July 2017). After several attempts at contacting the NVWA and a lack of feedback, the AAC-FF (the European anti-fraud platform) sent an official request to the Netherlands on 6th July 2017. Subsequently, any farms where the Dega-16 treatment was used were checked, eggs were temporarily seized and analysed