Croatia has stepped up its controls of animal feed and food products coming from Germany amid fears that dioxin-poisoned fodder and foodstuff could be seeping through the borders.

More than 1,000 German farms had been ordered to stop selling products after high levels of toxic substance dioxin were found in the chicken and pig feed last week.

The BBC reported that more than thousands of chickens had been culled on one farm in North Rhine Westphalia, while meat and egg production has been halted on 1,000 farms in the north-western state of Lower Saxony. More than 120,000 eggs had been recalled, though there are fears that some contaminated eggs remain on consumer shelves.

The Croatian authorities have said that they would not allow any of the contaminated products to enter the country, the daily Jutarnji List writes.

Germany’s Ministry of Agriculture has said that the company Hales & Jentzsch that produces plant and animal fat for fodder is most likely responsible for the mix up in which the dioxin-contaminated oil meant for industrial use in biofuels was somehow substituted for vegetable fats during the processing of the feed.

According to the news reports, in the meantime some of the potentially contaminated eggs may have been exported to Netherlands.