A food company in Norway has decided to withdraw some of its dressing products after traces of the insecticide fipronil were found, the country's food safety agency said Tuesday.
Orkla Foods Norge withdrew 16 different Idun dressings even though the amount of fipronil in them does not constitute a health hazard, according to the Norwegian Food Safety Authority.
"The withdrawal shows that Orkla Foods works according to the regulations. Fipronil will not enter the food chain," Jorun Aasgaard Grini, a head of section in the agency, was quoted as saying.
The company reported that it had received egg yolk powder from a German producer and the powder contained a maximum of one percent of the finished product.
The fipronil in the dressings is below the limits set by the EU health authorities for possible health damage, the company said.
"We have zero tolerance for the illegal use of fipronil. Therefore, we call these dressings back, even though it does not cause any health hazard to eat them," Paul Jordahl, CEO of Orkla Foods Norge, was quoted as saying in a press release.
Fipronil is a pesticide considered slightly poisonous by the World Health Organization (WHO) and its use is forbidden on animals destined for the food chain as it could damage to the liver, thyroid and kidneys in humans.
At the beginning of August, it became known that eggs from the Netherlands contained fipronil. So far, millions of eggs have been recalled and destroyed in at least 16 countries.
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