No dioxin-contaminated feed exported to Norway

Information provided by the German authorities reveals that contaminated poultry feed, intended for laying hens, was supplied to a Danish and a French firm. Originally it was not known that the feed had been supplied to countries beyond Germany. The German authorities also maintain that the fat was not exported to other countries as a feed material. The Norwegian Food Safety Authority has been in contact with the Norwegian animal feed industry, which confirms that Norwegian firms are neither importing the fat ingredient nor compound feed for food-producing terrestrial animals or farmed fish linked to the German manufacturer of feed fats, reports www.megafishnet.com with reference to Norwegian Food Safety Authority.

The scandal in Germany broke out in late December 2010 when it was discovered that so-called technical fat (non-edible fat) containing dioxin had been mixed with vegetable fat intended for the production of compound feed. The dioxin-containing fat - a byproduct from biodiesel production - was supplied to a producer of vegetable fat who is a supplier of fat ingredients to the German feed industry. How the dioxin contamination occurred and came to be mixed with animal feed has not yet been established.

The European Commission has set up a dedicated web site in response to the case; see link in right-hand column.

Cases of this type demonstrate the value of the European RASFF (Rapid Alert System for Food and Feed) which Norway is part of under the EEA Agreement. Within this European reporting system, information is exchanged concerning health-hazardous food and feed jointly between the authorities in the Member States of EU, EFTA/EEA, and EFSA (European Food Safety Authority) and the European Commission. For more information about RASFF, see the link in the right-hand column.