Dioxin: German manufacturer of pet food suspected of fraud

A German manufacturer of fat cattle for food is suspected of fraud vis-à-vis its customers as part of the dioxin scandal that stirred the country's farms. "Many things suggest that the company misled its customers and has transformed fatty acids of low quality feed to livestock expensive," said a spokesman for the Ministry of Agriculture of the regional state of Lower Saxony in German newspaper Westfalen Blatt.

It is possible that the company had issued false invoices and practiced tax evasion, "said Gert Hahne in the newspaper. For now, prosecutors opened an investigation against the head of Harles Jentzsch und Siegfried Sievert, for violating the code of food and feed livestock, said the newspaper.

In an interview with German TV Spiegel TV to be broadcast Sunday, Mr. Sievert said not to have "fat unauthorized." He assured not to know whence came the dioxin contamination, adding that the firm was doing exams and "worked closely with the authorities." According Westfalen Blatt, Breeders German victims of the dioxin scandal, want next week to claim damages.

On Friday, more than 4700 farms were closed as a precaution, and Berlin suspected that the matter had an origin "criminal." The overwhelming majority of businesses affected is in Lower Saxony (North), where the company Harles und Jentzsch delivered in November and December of contaminated fats for the manufacture of animal feed causing the scandal.

The measure affects mainly pig farms, but dairy companies, and will last until either proven the absence of contamination in their products. Up to 150 000 tons of feed have been contaminated with dioxin, according to Berlin. This residue of industrial combustion or natural may at high doses, cause cancer.

According to Berlin, in this case, there is no health risk to consumers.

• 4,700 farms closed in German dioxin scandal (07/01/2011)
• 4,700 Farms Closed in German Dioxin Scandal (07/01/2011)
• Dioxin Contamination Forces Shutdown of 4,700 German Farms (07/01/2011)
• Germany: 4,700 Farms Closed Due to Dioxin Contamination of Animal Feed (07/01/2011)
• 4,700 farms closed in German dioxin scandal (07/01/2011)