All the eggs from the five chicken farms sealed off after traces of the pesticide fipronil were found in some samples have been taken off the market, the health authorities have confirmed.

A spokeswoman for the health ministry told Times of Malta that while there was no cause for alarm, as the highest pesticide limit traced in Malta was well below the EU average, all of the eggs from the five farms had been removed as a precaution.

Earlier this week, the health authorities announced that tests showed that eight of 20 egg samples – 14 packed in Malta and six imported – collected from shops earlier this month were contaminated with fipronil.

Fipronil is issued to treat animals and banned when the animals are reared for food.

Eight of 20 shop samples were contaminated

The pesticide issue made headlines across Europe last month, when traces of the chemical in eggs from Belgium, the Netherlands and German were found in 15 countries.

At the time, the authorities told this newspaper that no contaminated eggs had been imported to Malta. Asked yesterday what had led to the change, the spokeswoman said that early in August, the warning about eggs was extended to also include those eggs imported from Italy, and that was when the issue was flagged by the Maltese authorities.

Asked which shops had stocked the eggs, the spokeswoman said that since the results of tests being conducted in Germany are still pending, EU regulations state that the names of the farms and the shops need not be divulged.

On why the tests had to be carried out in Germany, the spokeswoman said that only a handful of labs across Europe carry out tests for the pesticide fipronil and therefore most of the tests were being conducted by the same laboratories.

She reiterated that the levels found in Malta, 0.024 to 0.21mg/kg, were well below the 0.72mg/kg which could have a negative impact on human health.