Meat from 35 pigs sold to a firm in Poland and to two firms in the Czech Republic was likely to have already been consumed, said the authorities in Saxony-Anhalt, where the abattoir that slaughtered the animals is located, according to Food Safety Net.

On Thursday Japan said it had ordered importers to report all shipments of pork, poultry and eggs from Germany amid growing concerns over its dioxin scare.

The scare began last week when it emerged that a German firm may have supplied some 3,000 tonnes of fatty acids only meant for industrial uses to makers of animal feed late last year. The feed was then widely distributed.