Are dioxins only found in heavily contaminated ground?

Photo: Marcel Berendsen

Ask yourself the following questions:  What do I see?   What does it mean?   What should I do?

This is Practical guide to improving egg quality

• LOOK: These hens ingest soil.

• THINK: Eggs from free range chickens may have higher levels of dioxins and PCBs, because the main source of  contamination is soil. A relatively low PCB and dioxin content in the soil can already lead to increased levels in the eggs. Thus, the problem does not only occur with heavily contaminated soil.

• ACT: You need to ensure that the ground in the run is really clean and that the hens have their feed provided in trays rather than scattered on the ground.