3,000 German farms re-open after scare: authorities

"There are now only 1,470 farms barred from deliveries out of the about 4,400" in the region, Lower Saxony's agriculture ministry said in a statement.

Data has been collected in cooperation with agricultural officials to allow for a "solid analysis" and "identify farms to be sure that products carry no risk for consumers", said the statement.

Most farms are located in the northern state of Lower Saxony where tests on samples from a local company, Harles und Jentzsch, showed nine out of 20 had potentially carcinogenic dioxin levels higher, or much higher, than permitted, with one batch 78 times the legal limit.