Belgium: making an omelette and breaking eggs

Despite the scandal with contaminated eggs that is currently affecting several European coutries, the traditional preparation of a giant omelette - taking place every year - is held as usual in Malmedy, Belgium. This legendary omelette contains 6 500 eggs, and is cooked by the members of the Fraternity of Knights of the Giant Malmedy Omelette in a huge stove of 4m wide. Slices of the omelette are then  distributed to visitors for free.

However, the ongoing scandal obviously had an impact on this long-awaited event: thousands of people were expected to come today to, says the Fraternity, but there were only around 1000 of them. Although the eggs have all been submitted to a strict control (for food-safety reasons), the organizers had to significantly reduce the amount of eggs used, from 10 000 to 6 500.

Meanwhile in the European Commission, the investigation on fipronil eggs is still ongoing, and many Dutch producing farms have already been shut. It is still unclear whether the Commission was aware before the contamination started spreading, and before it was officially notified by the Rapid Alert System.

Photo credits: A. Vbb.