According to Itkonen, Belgian authorities informed the Commission of their findings on July 20, while the authorities of Netherlands and Germany informed on July 26 and 31 respectively.

In the Netherlands, a total of 147 poultry companies remain closed due to the production of eggs containing the pesticide fipronil, stated the Netherlands Food and Consumer Product Safety Authority. Investigations showed that the poultry holders used a treatment against blood lice by firm Chickfriend.

Mina Andreeva, a spokeswoman of European Commission, said member states have a legal obligation to notify the commission's rapid alert system immediately if they have information of threat to human health.

In the European Union, the Rapid Alert System for Food and Feed (RASFF) was created in 1979 and enables information to be shared between its members (EU-28 national food safety authorities, Commission, EFSA, ESA, Norway, Liechtenstein, Iceland and Switzerland).

Initial analysis in Belgium revealed a level of 0.076 mg/kg of fipronil, which was well below the European safety threshold of 0.72 mg/kg. However, a second analysis revealed a rate of 0.92 mg/kg, which exceeds this European safety threshold.

With the development of the scandal, legal procedures have started in some of the countries affected.

The Dutch public prosecutor said on Thursday that two people have been arrested in the country for involvement into the contamination.

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