Irish eggs are being tested for residues of lasalocid, a factory farm antibiotic, since the beginning of this year, the Food Safety Authority of Ireland said yesterday.
The statement came as it emerged in Britain that one in 10 eggs there has been contaminated with residues of the drug, which could cause problems for people with heart conditions or young children.
British government scientists who found residues of the drug, which is used to control parasitic stomach infections in livestock, believe it was getting into poultry through contaminated food either by accident or negligence.
A Food Safety Authority of Ireland spokesperson said last night that the substance was banned from poultry feed but there had been a problem with residues appearing in eggs in the UK and the Continent in recent years. There was no indication there was a problem here.
A spokesman for the Irish Food Board said Ireland had a quality assurance scheme for its egg producers which involved constant monitoring of production, and the use of contaminated feed in production was almost impossible.
Doctors here and in Britain estimated yesterday that even if eggs were contaminated with residues of lasalocid, an adult would have to eat five eggs each day before difficulties would arise.