Food safety inspectors have shut 102 Dutch pig and veal farms and 11 in Germany because they were delivered feed containing a banned antibiotic, the Financieele Dagblad says on Friday.

The feed, from a producer in Lopik, contained furazolidone which is banned in Europe and known to be carcenogenic. The feed producer has been closed down, food inspectors say.

According to farming organisation LTO Nederland, the company concerned has not yet been held responsible for the contamination, meaning the farmers themselves will have to pick up eventual costs.

Food safety inspectors are due to decide on Friday if all the animals on the farms should be destroyed, ANP says.

Veal

The new closures appear to be related to the finding of contaminated feed on five farms in Gelderland a month ago.

At the time, inspectors said the meat from the farms would not be recalled because there was no immediate risk to public health. Meat from farms using the contaminated feed was sold in Belgium, France, Germany and Italy as well as in the Netherlands, Nos television says.

However, according to website Boederij.nl, nearly 2,500 calves on the farms were killed because of the contamination.

According to website Melkvee.nl, the feed producer blames the contamination on manure from racing pigeons which gather at his farm. However, experts have scoffed at this explanation, the FD says.