Eggs

[Bazile]

How do they know they have identified all the products affected / potentially affected ?

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-40889414


//It has since emerged Belgian officials knew about the contamination in June, but did not make the information public.//

[Mamyalynne]

Reading the article they are as sure as they can be and the explanation makes it clear both the amount and risk is very low.

Thank goodness they did find out.

[mikey4444]

I have bought some free-range eggs from a farm up in the Beacons this afternoon. I don't suppose everybody can do that but if you can..........!

[Mamyalynne]

This isn't about bought eggs with shell on but products.

[mikey4444]

Regrettable though this is :::::: "The FSA said the 700,000 figure represented 0.007% of eggs eaten in the UK each year"

[Mamyalynne]

Yes, I read it - they refer to eggs in certain products like sandwiches and salads you buy.

Glad they have spotted it.

[youngmafbog]

//The FSA said the 700,000 figure represented 0.007% of eggs eaten in the UK each year//

Ah, lies, damn lies and statistics.

The problem is in egg products so to use the total number of eggs is entirely misleading. The figure they should be giving out is the amount of egg products affected but I suspect that figure would be rather unpalatable.

Still, for those of us who rarely buy pre packed (as who knows what is in it) this is not a problem.

And well done for buying British Mickey, it is what we should all be trying to do if only to reduce the pollution of transporting long distances food that should/could be on our doorstep.

[mikey4444]

YMB....the prime reason that I buy eggs from this farm, and others, is that they are free-range, and that they taste better. I have rarely considered the danger of contamination, at least up until now.

Free range eggs are easily obtainable from all supermarkets these days, and people should stop buying cruelty eggs asap.

[Togo]

This problem was known about by the EU back in November. No Europe wide warning or indeed World wide warning was issued. If this had been British eggs that were contaminated, what do you think would have happened? Massive headlines and warnings from Brussels on a daily basis and French farmers making great big roadside omelettes with blazing lorries, and every egg produced in Britain condemned. Meeh EU.

[waterboatman]

That's just one of the reasons I buy most of my fresh food, including eggs, from the farms.

[mikey4444]

Thats right Boaty....keep it local !

Its OK for us, but perhaps not so easy for city dwellers. Living in the country, or very close to it, is the only way for me!

[whiskeryron]

Don't eat eggs hated them since babyhood. No doubt there's something else out there waiting for me.

[Togo]

Just to add we buy eggs produced by a pal locally. Free range, and yolks as orange as a sunset. We even know the names of the chickens. Pecky and Chucky being just two of them.

[naomi24]

jordyboy, no he isn't. The eggs aren't fertilised.

[mikey4444]

lol Jordy !

[Bazile]

It's not clear to me what the FSA are saying .

Is the risk only from egg products OR eggs eaten directly from the shell ?

//"These aren't eggs that are in people's fridges in the UK, these are eggs that have gone into the food chain and the level of risk to public health is very low," she told BBC Radio 4's World at One programme.//


//While 700,000 eggs sounds like a lot, it is worth remembering we eat 34 million every single day in the UK.//

[Mamyalynne]

It says (yes I know some would not believe them) it is not about shell on eggs - for those who never purchase a bought sandwich but trot to the farm shop, bake their own bread and know all the ingredients in everything all is well.

[Bazile]

So , why state -

//While 700,000 eggs sounds like a lot, it is worth remembering we eat 34 million every single day in the UK.//

[Mamyalynne]

Because those figures are right - the amount quoted are used in made items and not sold shell on.

[Mamyalynne]

//What do we know about the Europe egg scare?
It added that in the UK, the Dutch eggs were not sold as shell eggs but used in foods with many other ingredients - mostly sandwich fillings or other chilled foods.//