December 29, 2000
		German Government Goes on the Defensive About Suspect Animal Feed German officials denied accusations that they didn't work quickly enough to stop the use of controversial animal ingredients in cattle feed, even as the Netherlands and Belgium moved to withdraw German products from sale, for fear it was contaminated with mad cow disease. German Agriculture Ministry official Martin Wille said that his department sent a report to the European Union Commission and received no response to weeks, despite repeated inquiries. Five cases of mad cow disease have been confirmed in recent weeks here, and Germany's neighbors are getting nervous. Belgium ordered German beef products to be withdrawn from sale, and Dutch supermarket workers quickly removed German beef products from grocery shelves in response to an order from the government Food Inspection Service. Austria banned German beef and cattle earlier in the week. The German Health Ministry advisory specified 20 "risky" products, particularly varieties of sausage. European Union Commissioner Franz Fischler was quoted Saturday, December 23, in Die Welt newspaper criticizing German crisis management at the state and local levels. Additionally, there have been unsubstantiated reports that German officials knew of possible contamination problems with animal feed in September, but didn't reveal this publicly.