The Dutch food and product safety board NVWA has shut down seven poultry farms in the Netherlands after a banned pesticide was found in eggs.

Fipronil is used as an insecticide, particularly to kill fleas, and is classed as a ‘moderately hazardous pesticide’ by the World Health Organisation.

The NVWA found traces of fipronil in eggs from four poultry farms and has launched a product recall. Three other farms have been closed down as a precaution.

The NVWA, which took the action after a tip-off from the Belgian authorities, said in a statement there is no danger to human health.

According to regional paper de Stentor, the contamination may have come from a pest control company in Gelderland which used the pesticide to deal with chicken lice.