Everyone loves an egg story.
So much so that Radio 4 devoted an entire show to the edible embryo on Saturday night.
As the show explores, the egg industry has been on a rollercoaster ride since the Second World War, battling health scares left, right and centre.
But just when the egg industry thought it had cracked it, Westminster steps in.
Twenty-five years on from ‘Salmonellagate’, it has emerged that chefs at the House of Commons have been told to use pasteurised liquid egg (as opposed to fresh eggs) when making dishes such as scrambled egg, which do not reach a temperature of 75 degrees Celsius.
Even the Food Standards Agency has distanced itself from the saga. “There is no requirement (or guidance) for caterers to use liquid egg rather than fresh eggs where the egg is to be fully cooked,” a spokeswoman says.
While the Commons reviews its policy, following a backlash from MPs, the egg industry will be watching nervously to see whether its action has had any lasting impact on shoppers’ confidence in buying eggs.
Memories of 1988 are still fresh, when junior health minister Edwina Currie told an ITN interviewer: “We do warn people that most of the egg production in this country now is, sadly, affected with salmonella.” Her remarks caused egg sales to collapse by 60% overnight, led farmers to destroy millions of eggs, and forced Currie’s resignation.
The industry today has come a long way and npd in eggs is coming into its own as consumer confidence rides high.
It would be a shame if 25 years of hard work by retailers and suppliers was undone due to a bungled bit of bureaucracy.
The egg industry is certainly hoping it’s nothing more than a storm in a – well, egg cup. “We think most consumers would recognise that it’s ridiculous,” says a spokesman for the British Egg Industry Council
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