For chocaholics--especially BELGIAN chocaholics

greenspun.com : LUSENET : TimeBomb 2000 (Y2000) : One Thread

Whenever the subject of stashing food comes up, chocolate is always near the top of the list.

From today's Electronic Telegraph:

Euro MPs urge ban on Belgian chocolates over poisoned eggs, By David Brown, Agriculture Editor EURO MPs demanded a ban on the sale of Belgian chocolates yesterday because of fears that they might contain egg products contaminated with dioxin.

The move follows a food pollution scandal in Belgium in which chickens and eggs were found to contain dioxins, which have been linked to cancer. The contamination is believed to have come from chicken feed produced partly from industrial oil - which is illegal.

Two officials from a Belgian animal feed producer have been arrested and accused of tampering with the fat that goes into chicken feed, the likely route by which dioxins entered the food chain. The source is believed to be a producer who mixed vegetable and mineral oils - possibly engine oil - and sold affected feed to hundreds of Belgian farmers as well as exporting to producers in France and Holland. None of the feed came to Britain.

In London, the Ministry of Agriculture issued a hazard warning to local authorities to be on the lookout for imported poultry and egg products which might have originated from farms affected by the feed. Chickens in Belgium began to show signs of illness from the contamination in January and the Belgian government knew about the problem in April. But its failure to act until last weekend has angered the European Commission in Brussels.

Britain imported 169 tons of processed eggs from Belgium and Luxembourg between January and February, according to latest Government statistics, and 2,188 tons of poultry meat. Despite this, the Ministry of Agriculture said the risk to consumers in this country was "remote". The calls to ban Belgian chocolates came despite protests from manufacturers that they did not use egg products.

In what was rapidly developing into the biggest European food scare since mad cow disease, EU vets in Brussels ordered the destruction of all chicken and eggs exported from Belgium since Jan 15. But concern was growing that other Belgian products, including chocolates, cakes and pasta, could contain contaminated egg.

Pauline Green, leader of the Socialist group in the European Parliament, said: "If the scientific advice is that products must be withdrawn from the market, then that is what must happen and without delay. It is unthinkable that any risks be taken with public health."

But David Johnston, managing director of Brussels-based Godiva Chocolates, which has six shops in the UK, said: "We must dispel this misinformation. We are one of the biggest exporters of chocolates from Belgium and we do not use eggs. I am pretty sure the other Belgian companies do not either and we are issuing instructions to our suppliers to deal with any queries from concerned members of the public."

In Britain, the Asda supermarket chain said it had withdrawn stocks of three own-brand pre-packed meats as a "purely precautionary measure". Checks were under way on other products, including chocolate. Tesco, Sainsbury's and Safeway said they were monitoring the situation and did not believe any of their products were affected. Marks and Spencer also said none of its products were affected.

-- Old Git (anon@spamproblems.com), June 03, 1999

Answers

Y2KNewsWire FLASH --

In a related, and equally on-topic story, government officials the world over are encouraging people worried about the Year 2000 Problem to eat prodigious quantities of beans.

With logic typical of those worried to excess about this potential problem, these officials have theorized that the flatulence produced by massive bean intake can be captured in bottles, to be used as generator fuel in the event of massive Y2k blackouts.

Potential gas conservation practitioners have been advised to watch the campfire scene from the movie "Blazing Saddles", in order to get a good feel for the necessary procedures.

-- Chicken Little (panic@forthebirds.net), June 03, 1999.


Remember when the authorities were getting rid of that bunch of infected chickens in China? Well, too bad the search was thourough enough.

-Greybear

-- Get Beans

-- Greybear (greybear@home.com), June 03, 1999.


Now wait a minute. This is serious stuff especially if you live in the UK. Us Brits are paranoid enough without the Walloons making it worse!

-- A poisoned (griffen@globalnet.co.uk), June 03, 1999.

Hi Chris, I know you've heard of the chicken-pecking syndrome, where if any chicken isn't quite the same as the rest of the flock, it gets pecked to death, Well, Chicken Little thinks he/she is a chicken-pecker. (Pun unintended.) Only he's picking on an old buzzard. Doesn't salmonella infection affect the brain?

Hey--maybe you can find some Belgian chocolatea and send him/her a box! (They're available in the US too, very highly prized.)

-- Old Git (anon@spamproblems.com), June 03, 1999.


Love Chocolate!

This puts me in mind of just cogitating on the potential for *some* tainted food supplies next year, due to Y2K oopsies, that few domestic and international producers will want to admit to.

Oy vey!

Diane

-- Diane J. Squire (sacredspaces@yahoo.com), June 03, 1999.



Hey, just send it all over to my house and I'll eat it. "Death by chocolate", what could be sweeter? (Yikes, I'm treatig this like a Fruitcake thread).

-- BigDog (BigDog@duffer.com), June 03, 1999.

another food scare, I'm fed up with them, keeps the Euro bureaucrats happy (food standards etc)until they get their hands on our money

-- dick of the dale (rdale@coynet.com), June 03, 1999.

Talking of food "additives" a "fruit juice"thickener is CMC or carboxyl methyl cellulose.

We use it in papermaking as a cellulose bonding agent.It sails through age testing (300 years) without too noticeable degradation.

Hate to think what it does to our digestive system...bonds all the vegetable fibres ?

-- Chris (griffen@globalnet.co.uk), June 03, 1999.


Bummer! The VERY FIRST thing I put into my Y2k storage stash was 50 lbs. of chocolate chips! After all, as my 86 year old mother repeats to us frequently, "I just heard on the TV the other day (for the past five years) it's good for my heart!" And no, I'm not kidding.

-- Sharon L (sharonl@volcano.net), June 03, 1999.

As long as they're not BELGIAN chocolate chips!

-- Old Git (anon@spamproblems.com), June 03, 1999.


But David Johnston, managing director of Brussels-based Godiva Chocolates, which has six shops in the UK, said: "We must dispel this misinformation. We are one of the biggest exporters of chocolates from Belgium and we do not use eggs. I am pretty sure the other Belgian companies do not either and we are issuing instructions to our suppliers to deal with any queries from concerned members of the public."

Hands up, you US folks: how many of you remember the Alar Apple Scare? Some very flawed science lead to news reports that Alar (used by apple growers to help apples ripen on trees longer) caused cancer. Mass hysteria ensued and the apple growers lost millions and millions in sales. Follow-on research showed that the original tests had used Alar and its derivitives in absurdly high concentrations to get the results, but the damage was done.

Now we get companies like Godiva (in an effort to avoid getting tainted by the Dioxin issue in Belgium) having to patiently inform customers that their products don't use eggs.

Here we go again...

-- Mac (sneak@lurk.hid), June 03, 1999.


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