Animal feed being used in Malta is not contaminated with toxic dioxin that led to the shutting down of nearly 5,000 farms in Germany, the Rural Affairs Ministry said yesterday.

The ministry said there was no cause for concern and it was monitoring the situation.

The Rapid Alert System for Food and Feed, which allows for quick exchange of food safety information throughout the EU, had only issued warnings for Germany, Holland and the UK.

According to the World Health Organisation, dioxins are a group of highly toxic compounds that, once ingested, can cause reproductive and developmental problems, damage the immune system, interfere with hormones and cause cancer.

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