Scandal should teach EU to walk on eggs

The futuristic Europa building in Brussels, the seat of the European Council and the Council of European Union that opened just a few months ago, looks like a "space egg". Ironically, many of the EU's 500 million consumers are caught in a dilemma: to consume, or not to consume eggs.

With eggs containing the banned insecticide residue fipronil being found in Belgium, the Netherlands, Germany and other EU countries, I too am hesitant to eat eggs. Recently, when I ordered a bowl of udon noodles in a small Japanese restaurant beside the EU headquarters and saw the dish was covered with egg, my first reaction was refusal, although I managed to swallow it finally. Both psychologically and physically, however, I felt uncomfortable for hours after that.

That prompted me to investigate how eggs are sold in Brussels. In one 24-hour grocery just opposite the European Council office, the owner said his shop only sells one brand of eggs and he could guarantee they are safe. In a convenience shop beside the EU headquarters, however, the salesman, pointing at packs of eggs, warned me that I better not buy that brand (of a Belgian company) but the rest was fine.