The breeders of poultry and retailers in the netherlands are estimated to be tens of millions of euros by Monday, the losses due to the scandal of the contaminated eggs which is widely used in Europe, while the suspects were expected in front of the judge Tuesday.
“The damage amounted to around 150 million euros for the time being,” said Mark de Jong, a spokesman for the association of farmers and market gardeners in the south of the netherlands ZLTO, stressing that this figure could increase further.”
“For supermarket chains, the losses reached tens of millions of euros”, said Rene Roorda, director of the federation of retailers CBL, which counts among its members the giants of the food retail Albert Heijn, Aldi, Lidl and Jumbo.
“We had to pull out of the eggs of the rays of 4,000 supermarkets. Millions have had to be destroyed,” reported Rene Roorda with the national press agency ANP.
While eggs not contaminated were back on the shelves of many stores across the country, dozens of poultry farms remained closed since the revelation to the general public on August 1, the contamination of the eggs by the fipronil, hazardous to human health.
Court appearances Tuesday
The netherlands union of poultry producers had not yet estimated the total amount of the damage, has been its treasurer Iris Odink-Schrijver to the AFP.
“At this stage, we’re still trying to disinfect our houses, hoping to finally get rid of fipronil”, she said.
During this time, two men aged 31 and 24 years were to appear on Tuesday for the first time in the context of this case before a judge of the court of Zwolle (the centre).
It would be the owners of Chickfriend, a Dutch company démarchée by farmers to eradicate the head louse, a red, a parasite, in their chicken coops.
“They will appear behind closed doors before a judge who will decide if they should remain in detention or not,” said to the AFP Marieke van der Molen, a spokesman for the prosecutor.
17 european countries affected
Eggs contaminated with fipronil have been reported in 17 european countries, the case even reached Hong Kong.
Fipronil is an insecticide commonly used for pets, lice, ticks and mites. It is forbidden to use on animals intended for the food chain in the european Union.
The case has provoked clashes between the three countries at the centre of the crisis, Belgium, the netherlands and Germany, each accusing him of not having acted sooner.
(With AFP)
