Slovakia temporarily halted sales of German eggs and poultry after concerns that farm animals in Germany were given feed containing the carcinogen dioxin, the Agriculture Ministry said Friday. The sales will be resumed after the veterinary authorities complete testing food imported from Germany for the highly toxic and carcinogenic chemical, the ministry said in a statement.
The dioxin scandal broke earlier this week after it was revealed that a German manufacturer added fats contaminated with dioxin to its animal feed. A German government official said Friday that the firm knew that its fat contained high dioxin levels as early as March. More than 4,700 German farms had to be shut down so far as a result.