Read news from:
Austria
SHARE
COPY LINK

HEALTH

900,000 eggs recalled in western Germany due to insecticide fears

A huge quantity of eggs originating from Belgium has been recalled from shops in North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW), after testing found they contained high levels of an insecticide.

Published: 31 July 2017 15:10 CEST
900,000 eggs recalled in western Germany due to insecticide fears
Photo: DPA

The Federal Institute for Risk Assessment (BfR) announced on Monday that close to 900,000 eggs have been recalled due to excessive levels of the insecticide Fipronil, the Rheinische Post reported on Monday.

Fipronil is used to stop the spread of ticks, fleas and other insects.

Some 2.9 million of the eggs had been delivered to NRW, 875,000 of which had already arrived in shops.

Affected eggs bear one of two stamps: 1-NL 4128604 or 1-NL 4286001, and were laid between July 9th and July 21st.

It is not clear which brands have been impacted.

The BfR assures consumers that the eggs are not dangerous to eat due to the fact that level of the insecticide recorded in them was considerably below an amount considered potentially harmful.

HEALTH

Danish parties agree to raise abortion limit to 18 weeks

Denmark's government has struck a deal with four other parties to raise the point in a pregnancy from which a foetus can be aborted from 12 weeks to 18 weeks, in the first big change to Danish abortion law in 50 years.

Published: 3 May 2024 08:06 CEST
Danish parties agree to raise abortion limit to 18 weeks

The government struck the deal with the Socialist Left Party, the Red Green Alliance, the Social Liberal Party and the Alternative party, last week with the formal announcement made on Monday  

“In terms of health, there is no evidence for the current week limit, nor is there anything to suggest that there will be significantly more or later abortions by moving the week limit,” Sophie Løhde, Denmark’s Minister of the Interior and Health, said in a press release announcing the deal.

The move follows the recommendations of Denmark’s Ethics Council, which in September 2023 proposed raising the term limit, pointing out that Denmark had one of the most restrictive abortion laws in Western Europe. 

READ ALSO: 

Under the deal, the seven parties, together with the Liberal Alliance and the Conservatives, have also entered into an agreement to replace the five regional abortion bodies with a new national abortion board, which will be based in Aarhus. 

From July 1st, 2025, this new board will be able to grant permission for abortions after the 18th week of pregnancy if there are special considerations to take into account. 

The parties have also agreed to grant 15-17-year-olds the right to have an abortion without parental consent or permission from the abortion board.

Marie Bjerre, Denmark’s minister for Digitalization and Equality, said in the press release that this followed logically from the age of sexual consent, which is 15 years old in Denmark. 

“Choosing whether to have an abortion is a difficult situation, and I hope that young women would get the support of their parents. But if there is disagreement, it must ultimately be the young woman’s own decision whether she wants to be a mother,” she said. 

The bill will be tabled in parliament over the coming year with the changes then coming into force on June 1st, 2025.

The right to free abortion was introduced in Denmark in 1973. 

SHOW COMMENTS