Dioxin food poison scandal sours public trust in officials

In Belgian supermarkets, the food shelves are bare. The shuttered butcher shops are reminiscent of Hong Kong's silent poultry markets at the height of the bird flu scare. And with days to go before national and European Parliament elections, the resignation of two senior ministers amid accusations of negligence from the European Union has left the Belgian Government reeling.

The discovery that up to 80 tonnes of animal feed, contaminated with cancer-causing dioxin, was fed to chickens, pigs and cattle was damaging enough.

However, the Government's delays in warning the public, the European Commission and its international trading partners calls the entire national and EU food-safety system into question.

Meanwhile consumers all over Europe, still wary of beef after the mad cow disease scare, now wonder what foods they can safely eat. Analysts say consumers are more likely now to boycott controversial genetically modified foods and refuse to buy meat from North America, should the EU be forced to lift its 10-year ban on hormone-treated beef.

Neighbouring countries are nervously checking their distribution chains to discover which farms, food processors and retailers received dioxin-laced produce.

Asia has not waited to find out. Hong Kong's suspension of meat and dairy sales from Belgium, France, Germany and the Netherlands appears cautious next to the wider bans on all EU meat and dairy imports imposed by Malaysia and Singapore.