Belgian Local Tradition: Belgian town cooks giant omelette despite tainted egg scandal

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Europe

It's a scandal that has swept across Europe. Eggs contaminated with an insecticide called "fipronil" have affected 15 EU Member States plus Switzerland and Hong Kong. But for one Belgian town, the egg uproar was not enough to ruin residents' appetite for a beloved local tradition. CGTN's Mariam Zaidi has more from Malmedy, close to the German border.

Locals gather in the small Belgian town of Malmedy for a most peculiar of local traditions that dates back some two decades. We're here at the annual convention of the giant omelette, organized by the Malmedy brotherhood. 6500 eggs have been used to prepare the gaint omelette you can see behind me. So it seems as if the locals here of this Belgian town haven't put off by the latest egg scandal.

GARY LOCAL RESIDENT "If you chose eggs from the surrounding area, there won't be any problem. People take care about what they produce."

BENEDICTE MATHY OMELETTE BROTHERHOOD, MALMEDY "The people know that these eggs have been subjected to stringent testing. The supplier (for the festival) has been carrying out daily egg safety."

LAITH VISITOR "It's good. It tastes very nice. Everybody's eating it, so I think it's ok."

But Belgium, along with the Netherlands, was front and center of the scandal. It was the first EU Member state to realize the contamination and prompt an EU-wide health alert at the end of July. But Belgium took nearly two months to pass that information along, opening officials up to criticism. Millions of eggs were taken off supermarket shelves, tens of thousands of chickens slaughtered as a precaution.

KATHY BRISON BELGIUM FEDERAL FOOD SAFETY AGENCY "Belgium is criticized but it's because of Belgium that the egg fraud was detected. Now in Belgium all companies involved in the scandal have been closed and can only re-open after a thorough egg analysis. So in Belgium the eggs on the market are safe. There are no more traces of Fipronil."

The European Commission says it will hold an EU-wide gathering of affected member states at the end of September to look at ways to address the issues of food fraud and food safety. But for the revelers at this omelette festival, under the watchful gaze of the Virgin Mary, not even a food scare will stop them and their pets from a little bit of tradition. Mariam Zaidi, CGTN, Malmedy, Belgium.