June 4, 1999

USDA's Food Safety and Inspection Service said Thursday that all European Union chicken and pork and all products containing chicken or pork will be held from retail markets. FSIS also is reviewing products imported since January to see if any additional action is warranted. Belgian farm products have been found tainted with dioxin.

The EU has said it will order the destruction of all chicken, egg, pork and cattle products from some 1,000 Belgian farms that used tainted animal feed. The U.S. action is considered temporary until the safety of the imported products can be assured.

Chickens on about 400 Belgian farms were given feed contaminated with the highly toxic dioxin. Belgium's farm and health ministers resigned, and supermarkets cleared their shelves of chicken and egg products when it became clear that the problem involved pork and beef and possibly milk, according to a REUTERS report from Brussels.