Supermarkets face boycott over ‘toxic’ foreign eggs

SHOPPERS are staging a backlash against supermarkets’ “poisoned” eggs, with one in three refusing to buy sandwiches and salads unless the ingredients are British.

After a scandal last week in which 700,000 contaminated eggs were sold in fresh food by UK retailers, 32 per cent of respondents in a survey by The Grocer said they would only buy products that were made with British eggs.

Supermarkets have been accused of hypocrisy as they use cheaper foreign eggs as ingredients in pre-prepared food, while making a point of only selling raw boxed eggs carrying the British Lion quality logo.

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.

Research by The Daily Telegraph has established that Tesco, Sainsbury’s Asda, Waitrose and Morrisons all use foreign eggs in their salads and sandwiches. Packs state that they are “produced in the UK”, but they in fact contain foreign eggs. Of the major stores asked, M&S was the only one that said 100 per cent of its raw and cooked eggs are British and free range. However, this is not stated on packs.

The scandal involved eggs being imported from the Continent, particularly the Netherlands, from farms where the insecticide fipronil was used as a cleaning agent and treatment for red mite in hens.

The Food Standards Agency has said the risk to human health is very low as a result of the scandal. Forensic scientists estimate that someone would need to eat 20,000 eggs in one sitting to become ill from fipronil poisoning.