The EU on Friday called an emergency meeting to stop “blaming and shaming” over the insecticide-tainted eggs scandal as it emerged that the crisis had spread to Asia.
Hong Kong, Switzerland and 15 European Union countries have all received eggs contaminated with the chemical fipronil, which can harm human health, the European Commission said.
With concern going global, the commission said it had now called a meeting of ministers and food safety chiefs from affected EU countries, setting a provisional date of September 26. “Blaming and shaming will bring us nowhere and I want to stop this,” Vytenis Andriukaitis, European Commissioner for health and food safety, said.
Andriukaitis urged the Netherlands, Belgium and Germany — the countries at the epicentre of the crisis — to stop trading accusations about who is responsible for the scare.
Dutch health minister Edith Schippers, speaking publicly about the matter for the first time, admitted on Friday that errors had been made in the government’s handling of the crisis.
Fipronil is commonly used to get rid of fleas, lice and ticks from animals but is banned by the European Union from use in the food industry.
