Contaminated eggs to be destroyed by tomorrow
By Lee Kyung-min
A total of 49 farms sold eggs that were so contaminated with high levels of harmful chemicals that they should have been banned from being sold, the government said Friday. They were among 86 farms with eggs contaminated even with permissible levels of insecticides.
The Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs said its inspection of 1,239 farms _ 683 organic farms and 556 non-organic ones _ nationwide was complete. Eggs from the remaining 1,190 farms are safe to eat, it added.
The 49 farms used either fipronil or bifenthrin, both of which are insecticides used to kill pest infestations, at higher levels than deemed permissible. Eggs from the farms will be all recalled and destroyed by tomorrow.
Of them, 31 were government-approved "organic" farms that used substances at permissible levels for sales. Their organic licenses were revoked.
This was due to the failure to meet safety standards according to which their eggs should have been free of any harmful substances including insecticides.
Eggs from such farms cost up to twice the price of those that come from "non-organic" farms, which are allowed to sell eggs after they pass safety tests for 27 harmful substances.
The farms were in Gyeonggi, South Chungcheong, South Jeolla, South and North Gyeongsang and Gangwon provinces as well as Gwangju.
Of the total, one farm housing about 5,000 hens in Gimcheon, North Gyeongsang had no coding printed on its eggs.
Agriculture Minister Kim Yung-rok said that comprehensive measures will be set up to punish egg farm owners who fail to comply with safety standards.
"Chickens and eggs will be subject to the same regulations that pork and beef are. The government will set up a system to label every single egg and chicken to track the distribution process, helping to ensure consumers know where they came from," he said during a press conference at the ministry in the Sejong Government Complex.
Meanwhile, a group of doctors said the maximum level detected in a single egg was not enough to cause panic.
"The maximum level of fipronil or bifenthrin detected so far is not significant enough to cause acute toxicity to people," said Hong Yoo-chul, a Seoul National University physician specializing in preventative medicine at a press conference.
"It is safe to say that if a one-year-old eats two contaminated eggs, the amount is less than 20 percent of the maximum level allowable. So parents need not worry too much for now."
Another doctor said food containing insecticides in itself is a problem, urging the government to come up with measures to better regulate banned substances.
"It is okay to eat eggs the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety says are safe. But the ones found highly contaminated over the safety standards should be thrown away. The government should use this incident to come up with necessary measures," said Baek Hyun-wook, a physician at Bundang Jesaeng Hospital specializing in clinical nutritional science.
"More than 90 percent of harmful substances found in eggs thus far are removed by the body in a week. They do not stay in people's systems," he added.