Denmark’s food authority is facing a wave of criticism after advising the country’s roughly 80,000 hobby hen owners to supplement their own eggs with eggs bought in stores, following PFAS findings in garden eggs.
Fødevarestyrelsen, the Danish Veterinary and Food Administration, published the recommendation in a post on Facebook, where hen owners filled the comment field with criticism. DR reports that critics called the message a scare campaign and questioned the basis for the study behind it.
According to DR, the agency found exceedances of the PFAS limit value in 16 out of 54 egg samples collected over two years from hens in private gardens. No exceedances were found in eggs from supermarkets. Each hobby sample consisted of between 10 and 15 eggs, the agency told DR.
Fødevarestyrelsen warns that eating eggs with too high levels of PFAS and dioxin over a long period can be harmful to health. The agency stresses that it is up to each owner whether to follow the advice. It also points out that hen owners can pay commercial laboratories to have their eggs analyzed.
Signe Wenneberg, a member of the Folketing for Alternativet and a longtime hen owner, called the message an unnecessary scare campaign. Speaking on DR’s P1 Orientering on August 18, she said those who volunteered samples may already have suspected pollution on their property.
Finn Jensen, chair of the association Frit Fjerkræ, told DR the advisory amounts to shirking responsibility. He said owners should take it with a pinch of salt, while acknowledging that authorities cannot demand samples from private homes. He argued that the problem was created by authorities who were not consistent enough in avoiding the substances, noting that PFAS is still used in pesticides.
Agency points to duty to inform
Henrik Dammand Nielsen, head of the chemistry and food quality unit at Fødevarestyrelsen, said on P1 Orientering that the aim is not a scare campaign, but risk communication. He said the agency has a duty to inform where there are particular risks, and that eggs are a known place where PFAS accumulates.
He also acknowledged that the findings are not representative of all Danish hen owners. Participants were likely those especially concerned about health or about pollution on their land, he said. He added that the agency always advises eating a varied diet.
Fødevarestyrelsen says hobby hens are more exposed because they roam outdoors, peck at possibly polluted soil and eat earthworms, insects and larvae. Effektivt Landbrug reports that researchers at Aarhus University’s DCA have ruled out feed as a source and point instead to plants, worms and insects.
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Earlier figures differ from those cited now. Politiken reported in October 2025 that PFAS exceeded the limit in 8 of 20 hobby samples. The agency’s own guidance page, last updated on May 16, 2026, cites 11 of 28 samples from 2025.
