Germany: hundreds of thousands of livestock and poultry may have eaten toxic feed

Lead: Hamburg (Reuters) - hundreds of thousands of livestock and poultry may have eaten feed contaminated with a toxic chemical, German agriculture minister Renate kuenast said on Tuesday German authorities are investigating allegations that feed producers in Lower Saxony produce feed containing herbicides, a carcinogen The toxic feed was transported to about 120 farms, which use ecological feeding methods to feed chickens and other poultry Officials say many poultry meat has entered the food chain Kuenast said it was unclear how much toxic organic feed had been sold and how many animals had eaten it But in the eastern German state of Mecklenburg - fulbomen alone, hundreds of thousands of animals may have eaten toxic feed German officials confirmed Monday that about 100 tons of bird feed had been contaminated Kuenast said the government believed 550 tons of toxic feed had been sold As many as 31 cases of herbicides were found between November 2001 and May 2002, according to the records of foragers Until now, the survey is restricted to organic feed, but KUENAST says traditional feeds will also be investigated She said it was not clear how weeder infected feed wheat All the farms involved have been ordered to stop selling The scandal was brought to light when a turkey farm in Lower Saxony informed the government that toxic substances had been found in chicken The government confiscated 230 tons of turkey meat destined for export to Russia The prosecutor is investigating the matter.