Don't drop your salmonella guard, egg producers warned

Egg producers have been urged not to drop their guard as far as salmonella is concerned.

"Eggs now have a healthy image and consumption is up by nine per cent - helped by the Atkins diet which encourages protein intake. But an estimated 15 per cent of eggs still come from birds not vaccinated against salmonella," Jim Bigmore, global business manager for Lohmann Animal Health, told egg producers at a meeting in Shropshire.

"The UK is the only EU country where vaccination is voluntarily carried out beyond the minimum legal requirements of salmonella control - for the benefit of consumers - and producers who fail to vaccinate or have gaps in their immunisation policy, leaving their hens open to infection, could jeopardise the future of the whole industry,” he warned.

Last year human salmonella outbreaks caused by phage type 4 - commonly related to eggs - fell by 27 per cent in England and Wales and by 54 per cent in Scotland, a drop of nearly 1,600 cases. The majority of outbreaks in autumn last year were traced to egg imports.

The newly-formed Health Protection Agency tested 3,906 eggs from catering establishments and found 5.1 per cent of Spanish eggs were contaminated with salmonella. This compared with 1.3% in the rest of the sample tested, which were mostly of UK origin but not from Lion Code flocks.

"We would like to see a clear message from the government that imported eggs should conform to the same standards as UK eggs," said Mr Bigmore. "But equally, it is up to UK producers to safeguard their industry - which is enjoying increased sales - by ensuring they rigorously apply the highest standards of vaccination."

All eggs stamped with the Lion are laid by hens that have been vaccinated against salmonella.