Vulnerable Britons have been urged to avoid runny eggs when eating out amid a deadly salmonella outbreak.
Food Standards Agency (FSA) chiefs said people over 65, children under five, pregnant women and people with health problems should avoid eggs when eating in cafes, restaurants and takeaways.
These groups should also avoid mayonnaise and hollandaise sauce, the FSA said.
It comes as one Briton has died and more than 200 people have been affected by salmonella food poisoning, which health chiefs have declared a national outbreak.
The spread is thought to be caused by imported eggs, but the government has not yet confirmed the country of origin.
FSA chiefs said anyone eating out should avoid products that may contain eggs. However, properly cooked eggs remain safe to eat.
Experts have told the Daily Mail that eggs produced in the UK, which carry the British Lion quality mark, are also safe.
FSA chief scientific adviser Ian Young said the current outbreak is ‘unusually large and rapidly increasing’, while warning that ‘people need to be cautious.’
Vulnerable Britons have been urged to avoid runny eggs when eating out amid a deadly salmonella outbreak that has killed one person and sickened more than 200 people.
He told the BBC: ‘When people eat out or consume eggs or egg products from cafes and restaurants, it is important, especially for those people who are young, elderly, pregnant or vulnerable, to ensure that the eggs or egg products you consume in those environments are very well cooked.’
However, he stressed that British eggs from supermarkets are not linked to the outbreak and remain safe to consume.
The government was previously warned about the dangers of imported eggs in a major report published earlier this year by industry experts, which highlighted the ‘significant’ safety risks of importing eggs from countries such as Poland and Ukraine.
Although most eggs on supermarket shelves are produced in Britain, increasing quantities are being shipped in from overseas, where farmers are using practices banned in Britain.
Data shows that egg imports into Britain have increased by 60 percent since 2021. Last year alone, exports from Ukraine increased by 65 percent.
The origin of the current outbreak is unknown and officials are said to be investigating.
Paul Wigley, professor of animal microbial ecosystems at the University of Bristol, told the Daily Mail this week that the source of the contaminated eggs ‘should be public information’.
‘If necessary, import restrictions should be imposed.’
Professor Wigley added that non-British eggs come from a ‘lower standard’.
“An egg produced in Britain will come from a chicken that has been vaccinated against Salmonella,” he said.
‘Each flock is tested for Salmonella approximately three to four times every two years. It is extremely unlikely that you will get Salmonella from a British egg; the risk is virtually zero.”
So far, 199 cases from the current outbreak have been confirmed in England, six in Scotland, one in Wales and one in Northern Ireland.
The specific strain identified is Salmonella Enteritidis, which is common in poultry and eggs.
More than a third of those affected required hospital treatment, while two developed potentially life-threatening bloodstream infections, the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) said, and one died.
The UKHSA previously confirmed that those affected had become ill after eating in cafes and restaurants.
Five unnamed food businesses have been identified where two or more of those affected had reported visiting in the week before developing symptoms.
Official guidelines state that salmonella is usually contracted by eating contaminated food. In addition to eggs, this includes poultry, meat, raw fruit and vegetables and unpasteurized dairy products.
Cooking food thoroughly usually destroys the pathogen. Therefore, runny yolks are at greater risk.
The disease usually causes symptoms such as fever and vomiting, which disappear within a few days. But in rare cases it can be fatal, with babies, pregnant women, the elderly and people with weakened immune systems being most at risk.
In March, the British Egg Industry Council (BEIC) warned the government that the public may be exposed to ‘significant’ risks from importing eggs from elsewhere in Europe.
In its report, titled Shell Shocked, the council found that there has been a rise of 600 million eggs imported into Britain since 2021, largely due to rising intakes from Ukraine and Poland.
They raised particular concerns about Ukraine’s use of battery cages – small enclosures made entirely of wire and banned in Britain since 2012 – on its chicken farms.
The BEIC said receiving imported eggs from Ukraine risked ‘undermining the integrity of the UK egg market’ and ‘raising significant food safety, economic, ethical and reputational concerns’.
They added: ‘The principle is simple: if a production system is not legal in Britain, its products should not enter the UK market, nor should food produced to lower food safety standards.’
Furthermore, the report warned: ‘Importing eggs… could expose the British public to potential risks including Salmonella, chemical residues and eggs produced in conventional ‘battery cages’.
BEIC chief executive Nick Allen added: ‘It is deeply concerning that imported eggs are once again under scrutiny due to a serious outbreak of Salmonella.
“We have repeatedly raised our concerns about the risks associated with imported eggs and egg products to the government, most recently through our Shell Shocked report.”
Meanwhile, Kevin Coles of the UK’s Egg Information Service told the Mail that people have the right to know where their eggs come from, especially in the event of an outbreak.
“We have been calling on the government for some time to protect British consumers by banning imported eggs,” he said.
‘But in the meantime, you can check if your eggs are British by looking for the British Lion mark.’
Jacquelyn McCormick, Head of Incidents at the FSA, said: ‘We are working closely with the UK Health Security Agency and other partners to investigate an outbreak of Salmonella Enteritidis.
‘The exact cause has not yet been identified, but research to date has suggested there may be links to eggs imported from outside Britain and used mainly by food service and catering businesses such as restaurants or cafes.
‘There is no evidence that eggs produced in the UK are affected.’
The outbreak comes at the same time Belgium is battling its own Salmonella spread linked to eggs.
About 300 people – who are as young as one and as old as 96 – are said to be sick, up from 236 in May.
Laerco BV, a Belgian egg producer, issued a second revocation and recall of eggs in August, following the first in May.
The eggs are also said to have been distributed to France, Luxembourg, the Czech Republic, Italy, Poland, Portugal, Spain and the Netherlands.
A major outbreak of Salmonella Enteritidis linked to eggs from Poland was observed between 2017 and 2020.
Nearly 1,000 cases of Salmonella have been identified, most of which were found in Britain.
