Jail terms over contaminated eggs in Belgium

BRUSSELS: Belgian prosecutors demanded jail terms and heavy fines on Thursday for defendants accused of contaminating European egg production with a banned insecticide.

Food distribution was rocked in 2017 when fipronil was detected in deliveries and millions of eggs were pulled from supermarket shelves in Germany, Poland and as far away as Hong Kong. In Belgium alone more than 77 million eggs were destroyed. The director of bankrupt business Agro Remijsen is on trial accused of selling fipronil to farms in Belgium and the Netherlands.