Euro food poisoning scandals

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Eggs-as-food — Eggs and ham sandwich. Author:Amin.

Romanian strawberry toxins affair[]

There was a 1984-1985 and 1987-1989 scare that related to formaldehyde, lead and benzene in Romanian strawberries. The industrial city of Cluj and the oil refinery at Ploesti were suspected of causing the toxin build up. Romania was the only victim and no one died or fell ill.

British Salmonella in eggs controversy[]

Overview[]

The Salmonella in eggs controversy lead to Edwina Currie's regression as a government minister in December 1988 after she issued a hard-line warning about salmonella in British eggs.

Background[]

Eggs are laid by female animals of many different species, including birds, reptiles, amphibians, and fish, and have been eaten by humans for thousands of years. Bird and reptile eggs consist of a protective eggshell, albumen (egg white), and vitellus (egg yolk), contained within various thin membranes. The most popular choice for egg consumption are chicken eggs. Other popular choices for egg consumption are duck, quail, roe, and caviar.

Egg yolks and whole eggs store significant amounts of protein and choline, and are widely used in cookery. Due to their protein content, the United States Department of Agriculture categorizes eggs as Meats within the Food Guide Pyramid. Despite the nutritional value of eggs, there are some potential health issues arising from egg quality, storage, and individual allergies.

1 large UK has 74 calories, 0.38g of carbohydrates and 4.97g of fat.

Chickens and other egg-laying creatures are widely kept throughout the world, and mass production of chicken eggs is a global industry. In 2009, an estimated 62.1 million metric tons of eggs were produced worldwide from a total laying flock of approximately 6.4 billion hens. There are issues of regional variation in demand and expectation, as well as current debates concerning methods of mass production. In 2012, the European Union banned battery husbandry of chickens.

Hard boil eggs and scrambled-eggs were a staple part of the British and Irish diet and was indeed a UK wide obsession back then. The government had promoted them in the 1970s with the "Go crack an egg!" and "Go to work on an egg!" government healthy eating TV and radio ads in the 1970s.

The event[]

The infamous comment that "most of the egg production in this country, sadly, is now affected with salmonella" caused a moral panic in the general public, who feared the worse. It both sparked outrage among British farmers and egg producers as it caused egg sales in the UK to rapidly decline by 60%. The subsequent loss of revenue led to the slaughter of 4,000,000 hens. Edwina Currie failed to clarify that she meant the egg production flock; not "most eggs produced" by then and thus the public thought they were domed. The British newspapers fed on the crisis in order to boost their readership and thus cause even more panic amongst the general public.

N. Ireland[]

The province was largely agrarian outside of the industrial city of Belfast. Many of the farms produced eggs, hence there was particular anger in the province of Northern Ireland.

There was particular anger in Northern Ireland where egg production is a significant part of the economy. At the Christmas party of the Industrial Development Board for Northern Ireland that year the featured dish was curried eggs. To make amends, in 1990, she began the National Egg Awareness Campaign.

The controversy gained her the nickname "Eggwina."

Penitence[]

She began the National Egg Awareness Campaign in 1990 as an act of penitence.

Nickname[]

It earned her the nickname "Eggwina".

The true extent[]

Evidence had emerged that a mid-1980s liberalising regulation change had allowed salmonella to get a hold in many flocks. It was confirmed to have doped back to roughly pre-rise levels by 1990 and the controversies had died down by 1991.

It was revealed in 2001 that a government cover-up had hidden the results of a Whitehall report produced a few months after Edwina Currie's resignation that found that there had been a "salmonella epidemic of considerable proportions.", so meaning she had been, more by luck than judgment, right after all!

Romanian sheep toxins affair[]

There was a 1991-1992 and 1993-1994 scare that related to formaldehyde and benzene in Romanian lamb meat from central Romania. The industrial city of Cluj and the oil refinery at Ploesti were suspected of causing the toxin build up. Romania was the only victim and no one died or fell ill.

The 'Toxic cucumbers affair'\'Toxic beansprout affair'[]

Overview[]

The Escherichia coli O104:H4 bacteria caused a serious outbreak of foodborne illness focused in northern Germany in May through June 2011. It was found in cucumbers and beansprouts.

The event[]

A novel strain of Escherichia coli O104:H4 bacteria caused a serious outbreak of foodborne illness focused in northern Germany in May through June 2011. The illness was characterized by bloody diarrhea, with a high frequency of serious complications, including hemolytic-uremic syndrome (HUS), a condition that requires urgent treatment. The outbreak was originally thought to have been caused by an enterohemorrhagic (EHEC) strain of E. coli, but it was later shown to have been caused by an enteroaggregative E. coli (EAEC) strain that had acquired the genes to produce Shiga toxins, present in organic fenugreek sprouts.

Epidemiological fieldwork suggested fresh vegetables were the source of infection. The agriculture minister of Lower Saxony identified an organic farm in Bienenbüttel, Lower Saxony, Germany, which produces a variety of sprouted foods, as the likely source of the E. coli outbreak. The farm was shut down. Although laboratories in Lower Saxony did not detect the bacterium in produce, a laboratory in North Rhine-Westphalia later found the outbreak strain in a discarded package of sprouts from the suspect farm. A control investigation confirmed the farm as the source of the outbreak. On 30 June 2011, the German Bundesinstitut für Risikobewertung (BfR) (Federal Institute for Risk Assessment), an institute of the German Federal Ministry of Food, Agriculture and Consumer Protection, announced that seeds of organic fenugreek imported from Egypt were likely the source of the outbreak.

In all, 3,950 people were affected and 53 died, 51 of whom were in Germany. 800 people suffered hemolytic uremic syndrome (HUS), which can lead to kidney failure. A handful of cases were reported in several other countries including Switzerland, Poland, the Netherlands, Denmark, the UK, Canada and the USA. Essentially all affected people had been in Sweden, Germany or France shortly before becoming ill.

Initially, German officials made incorrect statements on the likely origin and strain of Escherichia coli. The German health authorities, without results of ongoing tests, incorrectly linked the O104 serotype to cucumbers imported from Spain. Later, they recognised that Spanish greenhouses were not the source of the E. coli and cucumber samples did not contain the specific E. coli variant causing the outbreak. Spain consequently expressed anger about having its produce linked with the deadly E. coli outbreak, which cost Spanish exporters US$200 million per week. Russia banned the import of all fresh vegetables from the European Union from early June until 22 June 2011.

Victims[]

The number of cases reported to the WHO as for 21 July 2011.
Country	Deaths	HUS cases	Non-HUS cases
Austria	0	1	4
Canada	0	0	1
Czech Republic	0	0	1
Denmark	0	10	15
France	0	7	10
Germany	48	857	3078
Greece	0	0	1
Luxembourg	0	1	1
Netherlands	0	4	7
Norway	0	0	1
Poland	0	2	1
Spain	0	1	1
Sweden	1	18	35
Switzerland	0	5	0
United Kingdom	0	3	4
United States	1	4	2
Total	50	908	3,167

The Dutch 'Toxic eggs affair'\'EU Fipronil egg scandal'[]

Overview[]

Several farms had used excessive and ultimatly illigal amounts of the insecticide Fipronil on hens, rendering the eggs theoretically, but probably not actually, toxic if eaten by humans.

the event[]

It was first discovered on August 8th, 2018, that Dutch farms had used excessive and ultimatly illigal amounts of the insecticide Fipronil on hen, rendering the eggs theoretically, but probably not actually, toxic if eaten by humans.

Farms were shut down in the Netherlands, Belgium, Germany and France after authorities confirmed that fipronil too much had been found in the either the birds and/or eggs according to European Commission spokesman, Daniel Rosario, on August 11th.

Cause[]

The excessive and ultimatly illigal on food stock use of of the insecticide Fipronil on hens. France and Germany started to crack down on rogue farms on August 11th, but both Belgian and the Netherlands ignored thire mass production of toxic eggs and accuised the other nation of conspering to flood them with toxic eggs on Augst 11th.

Victims[]

UK,
Germany,
Sweden,
Austria,
Ireland,
Italy,
Luxembourg,
Poland,
Romania,
Slovenia,
Slovakia,
Denmark,
Switzerland,
Hong Kong.

The UK's Food Standards Agency (FSA) said the risk to public health by the 700,000 Dutch eggs was very low on August 11th.

Eggs, processed foods containing eggs, including sandwiches and salads, have been recalled in UK supermarkets, including Sainsbury's, Morrisons, Waitrose and Asda on August 11th. Other supermarkets in Belgium, the Netherlands and Germany have also withdrawn thire eggs on August 11th.

Also see[]

EU
NATO
The Troubles
Threat construction
British Miners Strike

Euro food poisoning scandals

Contents

Romanian strawberry toxins affair[]

British Salmonella in eggs controversy[]

Overview[]

Background[]

The event[]

N. Ireland[]

Penitence[]

Nickname[]

The true extent[]

Romanian sheep toxins affair[]

The 'Toxic cucumbers affair'\'Toxic beansprout affair'[]

Overview[]

The event[]

Victims[]

The Dutch 'Toxic eggs affair'\'EU Fipronil egg scandal'[]

Overview[]

the event[]

Cause[]

Victims[]

Also see[]

Sources[]

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