DIOXIN FEED CONTAMINATION - GERMANY: SWINE & POULTRY FARMS

Date: Tue 4 Jan 2011
Source: Pig Progress [edited]
<http://www.pigprogress.net/news/dioxin-contaminated-feed-causes-pig-farms-to-be-quarantined-6844.html>


In Northern Germany, about 1000 poultry and pig farms have been
temporarily quarantined due to an in-feed dioxin scam. At least one,
but possibly up to 9, feed manufacturers may be involved.

In the state of Lower Saxony alone, about 1000 farms (layer hens,
broilers or pigs) have been quarantined last Monday as a
precautionary measure. Suppliers were forced to suspend deliveries
amid ongoing checks. The dioxin, which can cause cancer in humans,
was found to have entered the food chain last week through eggs and
poultry meat.

In another state, North Rhine Westphalia, about 8000 layer hens had
to be culled. The state's agricultural ministry found increased
levels of dioxin at one of its laboratory tests. In one case, levels
were 4 times the allowed rate.

The research into the layer hens will be extended for that reason,
the ministry announced.

The dioxin eggs have been traced to originate from a farm with
multiple poultry houses near the town of Soest [map at
<http://maps.google.com/maps?hl=en&tab=wl>]. These farms will be
blocked. Tests into a different egg farm in the neighbourhood of the
town of Steinfurt have not been finished yet.

The dioxin is believed to have stemmed from feed contaminated with
industrial fats. Authorities believe these fats were substituted for
vegetable fats at some point in the tainted feed's manufacturing process.

German feed manufacturer Harles & Jentzsch 1st alerted authorities of
levels of dioxin present in the feed. The manufacturer is pointing a
finger towards a biodiesel producer called Petrotec, although this
company has already denied allegations of being guilty of the dioxin scandal.

Petrotec says it only delivered raw materials to the feed
manufacturer, insisting that these materials only be used for
technical purposes (e.g. soap), not as a feed or food ingredient.

More than one animal feed company may have been receiving deliveries
including fats which contained dioxin, a substance which is
stubbornly persistent once released into the environment.

Possibly 9 manufacturers in the states of Lower Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt
and Hamburg would be involved.

The Minister for Consumer Affairs in North Rhine Westphalia, Johannes
Remmel, told a local newspaper that the contamination must either be
the work of criminals or the result of extreme negligence.

Either way, he stressed the importance of finding the feed fats -- or
feed into which they may subsequently have been mixed -- known to
have been delivered to manufacturers in 5 German states.

"We cannot rule out that there are dioxin-contaminated eggs sitting
on shop shelves," he said.

German authorities have added that no contaminated feed has been
transported to the neighbouring Netherlands. It's unclear whether
contaminated eggs have entered the Dutch market.

--
Communicated by:
Sabine Zentis
Gut Laach
52385 Nideggen
<http://www.cvlonghorns.de>
<CVLonghorns@aol.com>

[The article does not tell us what the levels are or how long they
suspect the contaminated feed may have been being fed to animals.
They do tell us that that they entered the food chain in eggs and
poultry meat last week.

One has to realize that dose exposure makes the toxin, so knowing the
dose as well as the time is important to calculate the levels in the
animals. There is good scientific literature on animal feed and human
food regarding dosage and dioxin. There is a growing body of evidence
that extremely low levels may not cause cancer. There is much
controversy surrounding dioxin and its dangers vs. possible benefits.
The controversy has raged since the early 1970's and is likely to continue.

Also, where there are dioxins, one should also be testing for PCBs
(polychlorinated biphenyls).

But lets look at what dixons are. Dioxin is a catch-all term for a
6-member ring where oxygen has been substituted for 2 of the carbon
atoms. This general structure gives rise to a number of related
compounds all having that 6-member ring with oxygen substitutions.
Therefore, there are a group of chemicals with dioxin-like activity.
Those chemicals include:

-- 2,3,7,8-Tetrachlorodibenzodioxin (2,37,8-TCDD). This is generally
regarded as a base or benchmark for assessment of the relative
toxicity of other dioxin-like compounds. It may be the most potent of
dioxin-like compounds, and, therefore, other chemicals' toxicity may
be measured against it.

-- Polychlorinated biphenyls (PCB). This chemical grouping is
generally associated with electrical transformers and should be of
concern in this case. This group of compounds are related
structurally to PCDD and PCDF, which also have dixion-like activity.

-- Polychlorinated dibenzodioxins (PCDD) and Polychlorinated
dibenzofurans (PCDF) are both known as furan derivatives because of a
common chemical structure within the molecule and therefore are
similar in their toxicities.

-- Dibenzofurans are also a component and parent compound of PCDD and
PCDF and share a dioxin-like toxicity with these other compounds.

Dioxins are relatively omnipresent in the universe. They are very
persistent chemicals. Almost everyone has some minor level of these
classes of compounds or what is called a background level of these
toxins. Most human exposure is through food. These chemicals
accumulate in the fatty tissues of animals and humans. Therefore,
humans are exposed through consumption of meat, eggs, dairy and dairy
products, fish and shellfish.

Dioxins are highly toxic and can cause reproductive and developmental
problems, damage the immune system, interfere with hormones and also
cause cancer.

Dioxins can be incorporated in fetal development stages and cause
developmental problems. They may have an interfering affect on the
immunological and hormonal systems and be responsible for some cancers.

There are a host of regulations and literature on this topic.
Therefore, opinions and literature supporting one or the other
position are not likely to be posted on ProMED-mail. - Mod.TG]