Budapest, Aug 3 - Hungary has blocked the sale of several items from a wide range of food, feed and drug products after shipments of guar gum tainted with toxic dioxin reached Hungary, the chief veterinarian said on Friday.
The gum, used as a thickener and identified on food labels as E412, probably reached Hungary from India via Switzerland, Miklos Suth told a news conference.
"Firms must not use their guar gum stocks for food, animal feed or drugs until they prove that it is not tainted with dioxin," Suth said.
He advised consumers to be vigilant about products containing guar gum, including several dairy products and jam.
"Fortunately the excess (amount of dioxin) is lowered in the products due to dilution, so the direct danger is much lower," he added.
Hungary has already had major food scares in recent years due to dioxin found in national staple spice paprika.