Germany warns of possible animal feed contamination

German authorities have warned Poland, Denmark and Romania that they may have received animal feed contaminated with an antibiotic that can disrupt production of human blood cells. Apparently German enterprises imported late last year feed ingredients that contained chloramphenicol, an antibiotic reserved for treating life-threatening diseases, from the Netherlands. These ingredients were later exported again to three foreign companies including one in Poland. "Our inspectors have been out all day visiting the feed manufacturers involved but we will not know the results of their investigations until late Wednesday or even until Thursday," the Lower Saxony official said. Ulrich Niemann, president of the association of German animal feed producers DVT, said in a statement the affair involved "scandalous mistakes by state control and inspection bodies" and that authorities should not blame the feed industry. (Reuters) A.K.