John Myers
Contents
show
The fipronil scandal has unsettled many. Many are not sure whether it is safe to eat their eggs or whether they should even be thrown away. In this tip, we explain whether you can eat your eggs.
Fipronil in Eggs
As with most scandals, the true extent of the fipronil scandal is only slowly coming to light or becoming public knowledge. The chemical fipronil is an agent normally used to control pests and has been banned in livestock farming for many years.
- While it was originally said that only a few eggs in Germany were affected, we now know that several million eggs are spread across almost all federal states.
- Likewise, the health risk of the new food scandal was originally downplayed. In the meantime, however, the situation has changed again.
- The Federal Office for Consumer Protection is now warning of an acute health risk posed by some of the eggs contaminated with fipronil.
- Currently, according to the Federal Office for Consumer Protection, you should not eat eggs with the number 2-NL-4015502. According to the Dutch authorities, these eggs pose a health risk. You can find a detailed list of eggs that are of concern in another home tip.
- Otherwise, the numbers of the affected egg batches will be continuously announced on the food warning portal of the Federal Office of Consumer Protection and Food Safety. Next to it, you will find a recommendation as to whether the eggs are still edible or not.
- In addition, ready meals known to contain eggs contaminated with fipronil are now listed on the Food Alert portal.
- If you still know where you bought the contaminated eggs or if it is your own market, you can usually also exchange the eggs.
Throw away affected eggs or eat them anyway?
How dangerous the eggs depend on the amount of fipronil that the eggs are loaded with. On the food warning portal, you will find information on the extent to which the eggs can still be eaten after the respective egg number.
- Children are no longer allowed to eat the contaminated eggs, healthy adults can still eat one or the other egg per batch without getting any symptoms.
- However, if you eat too many eggs or eggs that are too heavily contaminated with fipronil, this can lead to headaches, nausea, and vomiting as well as skin and eye irritation, among other things. And of course, you may no longer use the batches of eggs classified as hazardous to health.
