Almost 100 pig farms closed last week after a banned antibiotic was found in animal feed are again open for business.

Junior farm minister Sharon Dijksma told parliament in a briefing on Thursday that no traces of the banned drug furazolidone had been found in the animals.

Some 2,400 calves on four other livestock farms were found to have eaten food containing the drug and are being destroyed.

Investigation

The public prosecution department has launched a criminal investigation into the use of the banned antibiotic in Dutch animal feed from a producer near Utrecht.

Food safety inspectors shut 102 Dutch pig and veal farms and 11 in Germany because they were delivered feed containing the drug.

The feed came from a producer in Lopik which was closed down by inspectors last week. Furazolidone is banned in Europe and known to be carcenogenic.