Dutch farmers 'powerless' in the face of contaminated eggs

     In the dark and silent shed of a small Dutch poultry farm, 1.8 million eggs closely packed together wait to be destroyed. In the barn, the machine that sorts and packages the eggs has been shut off and its rolling belt is starting to gather dust. In the empty courtyard, the woman of the house and a worker perform small jobs. But the fields are empty and the chickens are invisible.  Wim ten Ham's farm in the central Dutch town of Ede -- where dozens of poultry farms are reputed for their eggs -- is one of hundreds of farms whose eggs are suspected of having been contaminated by the insecticide fipronil. Contamination with the toxic chemical has prompted supermarkets in Belgium, the Netherlands and Germany to remove millions of eggs from their shelves, including the discount supermarket giant Aldi which announced Friday it was pulling all Dutch eggs from stores in Germany. Authorities in Switzerland and Sweden also said they were tracking shipments and removing eggs, as the impact of the affair widened. The Dutch food authority (NVWA) also shuttered 138 poultry farms -- about a fifth of those in the country -- and warned that eggs from another 59 farms contained high enough levels of fipronil that it warned they should not be eaten by children. Fipronil is commonly used in veterinary products to get rid of fleas, lice and ticks. But it is banned from being used to treat animals destined for human consumption, such as chickens. In large quantities, the insecticide is considered to be "moderately hazardous" according to the World Health Organization, and can have dangerous effects on people's kidneys, liver and thyroid glands.   - 'I feel powerless' -