Spanish eggs cause salmonella outbreak

An outbreak of salmonella food poisoning linked to consumption of imported Spanish eggs has sickened more than 100 people across England, Wales and the Isle of Man.

Following the outbreak, the British Egg Industry Council (BEIC) has called on caterers to use only British Lion Brand accredited eggs to ensure salmonella free produce.

Numerous outbreaks of salmonella food poisoning have been linked to Spanish eggs such as cases in 2002, 2004, 2005 and 2009.

“It is unbelievable that British consumers are still being put at risk by imported eggs,” said Andrew Parker, chairman of the BEIC.

“There are plenty of high quality British eggs available, yet UK caterers think that it’s OK to risk their customers’ health by buying cheap, infected, imported eggs. When will they learn that it’s just not worth it?”

Some of the infected eggs are stamped with the code 3ES4504734A while bulk purchases used by caterers will be stamped with 3ES450470000034A.