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08/08/2010 15:06:52
Consumers warned about imported eggs
Consumers are being urged to avoid imported eggs after research discovered high levels of pollutants in free range eggs produced in Taiwan.
Both BFREPA and the British Egg Information Service have once again stressed the importance of choosing eggs bearing the British Lion mark, which ensures that eggs have been produced to the highest standard of food safety.
The Lion code, which was launched in 1998, requires compulsory vaccination against salmonella enteritidis of all pullets destined for Lion egg-producing flocks, independent auditing, full traceability of hens, eggs and feed and a ’best-before’ date stamped on the shell and pack.
It also requires on-farm stamping of eggs and packing station hygiene controls.
"This kind of news just reinforces our belief that consumers should buy Lion standard eggs if they want to be sure about the safety of the eggs they eat. As long as they choose Lion, shoppers can be sure that they are buying eggs that have been produced using the highest possible standards of safety and quality control and the highest possible standards of animal welfare," said BFREPA chairman John Retson.
Kevin Coles of the British Egg Information Service said that British eggs did not suffer from the same problems found in the eggs used in the Taiwanese study. "We would always urge people to buy British eggs and for manufacturers and retailers to buy British as well to use in their products. British farmers have invested heavily in food safety over the past 10 to 15 years," he said.
The Taiwanese research was published in the Journal of Agriculture and Food Chemistry. Researchers found that free range eggs in Taiwan contained five times more toxins than battery eggs. They found that free range chickens ate insects covered in dirt containing pollutants called dioxins, which are linked to a range of health issues including cancer, poor immunity and reproductive problems.
But Kevin Coles said that the concerns raised by the researchers were peculiar to Taiwan. He said that it could not happen in the United Kingdom because conditions were so different. "The problem is that a study done in Taiwan is not going to be the same as a study done anywhere else in the world because it is such an industrialised country. What you find there, you almost certainly wouldn’t find anywhere else in the world. You cannot compare the two industries," he said.
In carrying out the study, Pao-Chi Liao and colleagues collected six free range eggs and 12 regular eggs from farms and markets in Taiwan and analysed the eggs for their content of dioxins. The researchers did point out, themselves, that Taiwan was a heavily populated, industrialised island with many municipal incinerators that released PCDDs and PCDFs. They found that the free-range eggs contained 5.7 times higher levels of PCDDs and PCDFs than the regular eggs.
Questions have been raised about the accuracy of the study, itself. Kevin Coles said that the study was not what he would consider comprehensive. John Retson said the research had involved a relatively small number of eggs being sampled. "From what I can see it does not seem to be a very credible piece of research. Irrespective of that, the best way to ensure that you are eating nutritious, safe eggs is to look for the Lion mark."
Kevin Coles said the same conditions would simply not be found in the United Kingdom.
"If you tests eggs next to an industrial plant you are going to find dioxins, but our industries do not work that way," said Kevin Coles. "It is just not relevant to us here in the UK. I am confident that it could not happen here."
The Food Standards Agency clearly has concerns about Taiwanese eggs. Taiwan is one country whose eggs are banned from the UK.
The egg industry has raised other concerns about imported eggs. In December the British Egg Industry Council criticised the UK Government for failing to deal more firmly with suspect eggs imported from Spain. Two people died as a result of a salmonella outbreak linked to Spanish eggs. The Food Standards Agency launched an investigation into a total of 14 clusters in England and Wales.
It is thought that seven of the 14 clusters were linked to Chinese or Thai restaurants, three to cafes, one to an Italian restaurant, one to a kebab shop and another to a mobile food vendor. An outbreak at the Piers View Care Home in Sunderland resulted in three members of staff and five residents becoming ill.
Two of the residents subsequently died in hospital. Spanish eggs were also subsequently linked to a fatal salmonella outbreak in Ireland.
The BEIC urged processers and caterers, as well as retail consumers, to use British Lion eggs in the interests of food safety.
The reputation of the UK egg industry as one of the safest in the world was reinforced earlier this year with the publication of a European report which looked into how well EU member states had succeeded in tackling salmonella. The report showed that the United Kingdom had done much better than other leading European egg producing countries in eradicating salmonella from its laying flocks.
The figures, which were released simultaneously by the UK Government, the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) and the European Centre for Disease Prevention, were the result of the 2008 National Control Programme. They showed that just one per cent of flocks in the UK tested positive for salmonella enteriditis and salmonella typhimurium. The figuure for all serovars was 1.25 per cent. The comparative figures for Spain were 15.6 per cent and 34.9 per cent. In Poland the equivalent percentages were 10.6 and 12.5, in France 3.2 and 6.1, in Germany 2.7 and 3.5 and in the Netherlands 2.6 and 2.6.
The British Egg Industry Council said the figures reinforced the status of the UK egg industry as the safest in the world. It said the figures showed that 99 per cent of UK egg laying flocks were shown to be clear of salmonella in tests conducted during 2008. The results were the best among the EU’s major egg producing countries.
Both BFREPA and the British Egg Information Service have once again stressed the importance of choosing eggs bearing the British Lion mark, which ensures that eggs have been produced to the highest standard of food safety.
The Lion code, which was launched in 1998, requires compulsory vaccination against salmonella enteritidis of all pullets destined for Lion egg-producing flocks, independent auditing, full traceability of hens, eggs and feed and a ’best-before’ date stamped on the shell and pack.
It also requires on-farm stamping of eggs and packing station hygiene controls.
"This kind of news just reinforces our belief that consumers should buy Lion standard eggs if they want to be sure about the safety of the eggs they eat. As long as they choose Lion, shoppers can be sure that they are buying eggs that have been produced using the highest possible standards of safety and quality control and the highest possible standards of animal welfare," said BFREPA chairman John Retson.
Kevin Coles of the British Egg Information Service said that British eggs did not suffer from the same problems found in the eggs used in the Taiwanese study. "We would always urge people to buy British eggs and for manufacturers and retailers to buy British as well to use in their products. British farmers have invested heavily in food safety over the past 10 to 15 years," he said.
The Taiwanese research was published in the Journal of Agriculture and Food Chemistry. Researchers found that free range eggs in Taiwan contained five times more toxins than battery eggs. They found that free range chickens ate insects covered in dirt containing pollutants called dioxins, which are linked to a range of health issues including cancer, poor immunity and reproductive problems.
But Kevin Coles said that the concerns raised by the researchers were peculiar to Taiwan. He said that it could not happen in the United Kingdom because conditions were so different. "The problem is that a study done in Taiwan is not going to be the same as a study done anywhere else in the world because it is such an industrialised country. What you find there, you almost certainly wouldn’t find anywhere else in the world. You cannot compare the two industries," he said.
In carrying out the study, Pao-Chi Liao and colleagues collected six free range eggs and 12 regular eggs from farms and markets in Taiwan and analysed the eggs for their content of dioxins. The researchers did point out, themselves, that Taiwan was a heavily populated, industrialised island with many municipal incinerators that released PCDDs and PCDFs. They found that the free-range eggs contained 5.7 times higher levels of PCDDs and PCDFs than the regular eggs.
Questions have been raised about the accuracy of the study, itself. Kevin Coles said that the study was not what he would consider comprehensive. John Retson said the research had involved a relatively small number of eggs being sampled. "From what I can see it does not seem to be a very credible piece of research. Irrespective of that, the best way to ensure that you are eating nutritious, safe eggs is to look for the Lion mark."
Kevin Coles said the same conditions would simply not be found in the United Kingdom.
"If you tests eggs next to an industrial plant you are going to find dioxins, but our industries do not work that way," said Kevin Coles. "It is just not relevant to us here in the UK. I am confident that it could not happen here."
The Food Standards Agency clearly has concerns about Taiwanese eggs. Taiwan is one country whose eggs are banned from the UK.
The egg industry has raised other concerns about imported eggs. In December the British Egg Industry Council criticised the UK Government for failing to deal more firmly with suspect eggs imported from Spain. Two people died as a result of a salmonella outbreak linked to Spanish eggs. The Food Standards Agency launched an investigation into a total of 14 clusters in England and Wales.
It is thought that seven of the 14 clusters were linked to Chinese or Thai restaurants, three to cafes, one to an Italian restaurant, one to a kebab shop and another to a mobile food vendor. An outbreak at the Piers View Care Home in Sunderland resulted in three members of staff and five residents becoming ill.
Two of the residents subsequently died in hospital. Spanish eggs were also subsequently linked to a fatal salmonella outbreak in Ireland.
The BEIC urged processers and caterers, as well as retail consumers, to use British Lion eggs in the interests of food safety.
The reputation of the UK egg industry as one of the safest in the world was reinforced earlier this year with the publication of a European report which looked into how well EU member states had succeeded in tackling salmonella. The report showed that the United Kingdom had done much better than other leading European egg producing countries in eradicating salmonella from its laying flocks.
The figures, which were released simultaneously by the UK Government, the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) and the European Centre for Disease Prevention, were the result of the 2008 National Control Programme. They showed that just one per cent of flocks in the UK tested positive for salmonella enteriditis and salmonella typhimurium. The figuure for all serovars was 1.25 per cent. The comparative figures for Spain were 15.6 per cent and 34.9 per cent. In Poland the equivalent percentages were 10.6 and 12.5, in France 3.2 and 6.1, in Germany 2.7 and 3.5 and in the Netherlands 2.6 and 2.6.
The British Egg Industry Council said the figures reinforced the status of the UK egg industry as the safest in the world. It said the figures showed that 99 per cent of UK egg laying flocks were shown to be clear of salmonella in tests conducted during 2008. The results were the best among the EU’s major egg producing countries.
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