9 August 2007 - According to Indian press reports, the agriculture ministry in the south-western German state of Baden-Wuerttemberg has found “several thousand kilogrammes” of guar seed flour with high dioxin levels. The local authorities have reportedly seized the contaminated flour at 3 firms where it had been used in dairy products.
It is also believed that “several hundred kilogrammes” of the additive were discovered at 2 companies in the western state of Rhineland-Palatinate.
The German authorities are carrying out a nationwide hunt for food products that may have been contaminated by the tainted guar.
Early last week, FLEXNEWS reported that high levels of dioxin had been found in a Swiss-made thickening agent. Further to the discovery, the manufacturer Unipektin ordered a worldwide recall of the product.
Between 12 and 156 picograms of dioxin per gram of fat were discovered in Vidocrem samples tested by a German laboratory on 13 July 2007. The EU norm is 1 to 6 picograms per gram.