CONSUMERS : DIOXIN: EUROPEAN UNION POWERLESS.

Several tonnes of eggs that may have been contaminated with dioxin are said to have been sent by Germany to the UK and the Netherlands, before the discovery, on German territory, of infected fats destined to go into animal feed. But, in spite of close contact with member states, the European Commission admits to being unable to identify more precisely the processed products that have been made from these eggs and which are currently available on the European market.

"The traceability system shows where the finished product has ended up. We know that two batches of eggs produced in Germany have been sent to the Netherlands, one of which landed in the UK," said the spokesperson for the EU's Health and Consumer Affairs Commissioner, John Dalli, following a notification by Germany, on 5 January, to the Rapid Alert System for Food and Feed (RASFF). "But I am not sure that we will one day manage to identify the processed products," admitted the spokesperson.

The Commission is...