Tainted Dutch Eggs removed from Hong Kong shops

Hong Kong's Centre for Food Safety says it's instructed shops to remove eggs imported from The Netherlands, following fears they have been tainted with the insecticide Fipronil, according to media reports.

Eggs on sale in a market [File photo: qq.com]

Two samples of imported Dutch eggs containing excessive levels of the insecticide were identified by the centre on August 4, although no further affected eggs have been found since.

In the first five months of this year, Hong Kong imported 927,000 eggs from The Netherlands, less than 0.1% of the total number of eggs imported into Hong Kong.

1,100 egg sample tests were conducted by the Centre for Food Safety between 2014 and 2016, with no test failures.

According to the European Commission, eggs contaminated with the insecticide Fipronil have gone to Hong Kong and 16 European countries.

Fipronil is used to kill lice and ticks on animals, and is banned by the EU for use in the food industry.

Fipronil, in large quantities, can damage people's kidneys, liver and thyroid glands. The chemical is listed as being of "moderate toxicity to human beings" by the World Health Organization. 

Millions of contaminated eggs have been removed from shelves in many European countries.