The directors of a Dutch company said to be at the heart of Europe’s contaminated egg scandal have been remanded in custody for two weeks while the investigation continues.

The Chickfriend bosses – Martin van der B aged 31 and Mathijs IJ aged 24 – were arrested last Thursday. They face charges of endangering public health by supplying the pesticide fipronil to poultry farmers. They are also suspected of dealing in a banned substance.

Fipronil is banned from use in circumstances where it could enter the food chain, but is a key ingredient in some flea preparations used on cats and dogs.

The two are being kept in ‘isolation’ which means they are not allowed any contact with the outside world apart from their lawyer.

Millions of eggs and tens of thousands of chickens have been destroyed because of the scandal. Experts put the damage to the Dutch poultry sector at €150m.