Dutch food-safety officials announced Sunday that they had released a list of 170 codes for eggs contaminated with an insecticide, but were withholding the names of egg producers.

An official with the Dutch regulator told the German press agency that the list did not mean that 170 producers had been closed, as they often had multiple coops with different ID codes.

"Our list is very dynamic and is constantly changing," the official told DPA. "The numbers of companies alone do not have that much meaning, but would simply create more confusion"

He said consumers could check the codes to find out if they had eggs contaminated with fipronil, a toxic ingredient used in veterinary products for getting rid of fleas, ticks and lice on animals. It is, however, banned for use with food-producing animals.

"We are not expecting to find many more incidents in coming days," the spokesman said.

On Saturday, a spokeswoman for Belgium's food safety agency (AFSCA) said officials had known about the problem for two months but had kept it secret because they did not want to jeopardize a fraud investigation.

"We knew since early June there was potentially a problem with fipronil in the poultry sector," the spokeswoman, Katrien Stragier, told reporters.

"We immediately launched an investigation and we also informed the prosecutor because it was a matter of possible fraud."

Read more: Fipronil: What is it - and how did it get into our eggs?

Belgian authorities only reported the first cases of fipronil several weeks later, on July 20, according to the European Commission. On July 22, the substance was also detected in farms in the Netherlands. And just days later, it was announced that tainted eggs had also likely made it into Germany.

Food scandals in Germany Toxic eggs Millions of eggs had to be recalled in Belgium, the Netherlands and Germany after they were found to contain the insecticide fipronil. The highly toxic substance can cause damage to the liver, thyroid glands and kidneys if ingested in large amounts. More than 150 poultry farms in the Netherlands had to be shut down and a number of German supermarkets pulled eggs from their shelves.

Food scandals in Germany Beef with Brazil A number of countries banned meat imports from Brazil in March 2017 after a police investigation found meat packers had been selling rotten produce. In some cases, carcinogenic chemicals had been used to mask the smell of bad meat. Germany imported around 114,000 tons of meat and meat products from Brazil in 2016. But German authorities said no tainted meat had been sold in the country.

Food scandals in Germany Mice in Bavarian bakeries Earlier this year, German consumer protection group Foodwatch reported that mold and mice had been uncovered in several large-scale Bavarian bakeries. The watchdog cited the results of 69 inspections between 2013 and 2016. Rodent hair and chew marks were found on one bakery's goods. Another establishment had cockroaches crawling through flour and a mound of rodent feces baked into a wheat roll.

Food scandals in Germany Horsemeat lasagna anyone? In 2013, millions of people across Europe discovered that a number of meat products passed off as being pork or beef were in fact horsemeat. It all started when Irish food safety inspectors detected horsemeat in frozen beef burgers. Further investigation found that ready-to-eat meals in a number of EU countries, including Germany, also contained horsemeat.

Food scandals in Germany Strawberry surprise In 2012, more than 11,000 German schoolchildren were taken ill with vomiting and diarrhea because they ate from the same batch of deep-frozen strawberries. The mass food poisoning spanned almost 500 schools and day care centers in the east of the country. Fortunately, many of the victims had a speedy recovery. Only 32 were taken to hospital.

Food scandals in Germany Dioxin health scare In early 2011, thousands of German farms, most of them in the state of Lower Saxony, were temporarily shut after they received animal feed laced with dioxine. German officials said the tainted feed had been fed to hens and pigs, contaminating eggs, poultry meat and some pork. Contaminated exports were shipped as far as Britain, the Czech Republic, the Netherlands and Poland.

Food scandals in Germany E. coli outbreak Also in 2011, a strain of Escherichia coli O104:H4, a bacteria found in vegetables, caused a deadly outbreak of illness in northern Germany. More than 4,000 people were infected - showing symptoms like bloody diarrhea and hemolytic uremic syndrome, which can lead to kidney failure. More than 50 people died. A sprout farm in Lower Saxony is believed to be the source of the outbreak.



Massive recall

The three countries have since recalled millions of eggs, with their respective food safety authorities scrambling to assess the scale of the problem. At least 10 million contaminated eggs, mainly from the Netherlands but also from Belgium, were sent across the border to Germany, where they were transported to just about every state.

Fipronil is designed to combat insects such as fleas, mites and ticks, but it is not allowed to be used on animals destined for human consumption. According to the World Health Organization, the toxic substance can damage the liver, kidneys and thyroid gland if ingested in large doses, but experts say it poses no major health risks in small amounts.

AFSCA spokeswoman Stragier defended the decision not to inform other European countries immediately, saying it was necessary to establish the severity of the situation first.

Food authorities sent out warnings for customers to stay away from eggs marked with an 'NL' production code

Supermarkets react

German Agriculture Minister Christian Schmidt has called on authorities, particularly in Belgium and the Netherlands, to clear up the problem. "Someone has clearly proceeded with criminal intent to contaminate (the eggs) with a banned product," he told the German mass-market daily Bild.

In the Netherlands, some 180 poultry farms were closed after traces of fipronil were found there. Dutch food authorities said they had found at least one batch of eggs that posed "an acute danger to public health." Eggs from another 59 Dutch farms contained high enough levels of the insecticide to prompt health warnings for children.

A number of German grocery chains responded by removing eggs from potentially contaminated batches. Rewe Group said it would not sell any eggs from the Netherlands until tests showed it was safe to do so. Aldi, meanwhile, pulled all eggs from its shelves, regardless of their origin. Germany has also started to recall products containing processed eggs.

bik, nm/tj (AFP, dpa)