Supermarkets blamed for egg contamination
Food Standards Agency says stores use cheap eggs, as 700,000 potentially infected ones enter UK
Supermarkets are to blame for the contaminated egg scandal because they fill sandwiches and salads with cheap foreign eggs, the head of British egg standards has said. Asda, Morrisons, Sainsbury’s and Waitrose withdrew fresh salads, sandwiches and fillers from shelves on Wednesday night, after it emerged they contained eggs implicated in the scandal. Around 700,000 potentially infected eggs have been distributed from the Netherlands to Britain and may have already been eaten by consumers.
SUPERMARKETS are to blame for the contaminated egg scandal because they fill sandwiches and salads with cheap foreign eggs, the boss of British egg standards has said.
On Wednesday night, Asda, Morrisons, Sainsbury’s and Waitrose urgently withdrew fresh salads, sandwiches and fillers from shelves, after it emerged they contained eggs implicated in a contamination scandal.
Around 700,000 potentially infected eggs have been distributed from the Netherlands to Britain and may have already been eaten by consumers, food safety watchdogs confirmed.
But last night supermarkets were ac- cused of hypocrisy as they only sell raw boxed eggs carrying the British Lion quality logo, but allegedly use cheaper foreign eggs as ingredients in preprepared food.
Ian Jones, chairman of British Lion Egg Processors, said: “The major retailers are operating to double standards when it comes to eggs. All of them stock British Lion shell eggs but they use imported eggs in many of their other foods. This is just the latest of a number of food safety issues connected to eggs produced outside of the UK. Consumers clearly want retailers and food manufacturers to use good quality British ingredients that are produced to high standards of food safety.”
Andrew Joret, chairman of the British Egg Industry Council, added that unsuspecting consumers would be dis- appointed to discover that the egg in their sandwiches and salads was imported, and urged supermarkets to use 100 per cent British eggs.
He said: “I can only assume they are doing this for price reasons, but in light of this I hope they will now use only British eggs.”
The British Lion symbol tells consumers that the eggs are British-laid and have been vaccinated against salmonella. Around 85 per cent of boxed eggs sold in the UK carry the logo.
The infected eggs were produced under illegal conditions and contain fipronil, which in large quantities is considered to be “moderately hazardous” according to the World Health Organisation, and can have dangerous effects on people’s kidneys, liver and thyroid glands.
Imported raw boxed eggs are unaffected, with contaminated eggs present in processed foods such as fresh salads and sandwiches, as well as cakes, ready meals and pasta.
The FSA insisted there was “unlikely” to be a risk to public health but admitted it was still investigating the distribution of the eggs.
An Asda spokesman said: “Following precautionary advice from the Food Standards Agency, we have withdrawn three fresh salad lines from sale. We take our responsibilities seriously and are working closely with the food industry and the FSA.”
A Waitrose spokesman said: “Because our eggs are free range, they may not be available across the year. We also sell products made outside the UK such as authentic Italian pasta, which use a local supply of egg.”
A Sainsbury’s spokesman said: “The FSA advised that this is unlikely to pose a health risk, but we agreed to withdraw these products on a temporary basis as a precautionary measure.”