Over 100 cases of salmonella poisoning from UK eggs recorded in last three years

Dozens of people have been poisoned after eating British eggs contaminated with one of the most dangerous forms of salmonella, according to the Bureau of Investigative Journalism.

The cases of salmonella, whichcan cause food poisoning and in the most serious cases can kill, have been traced back tocontaminated eggs and poultry farms. Picture: Flickr

Despite government assurances that the risk had been virtually eliminated, the Bureau has found that there have been more than 100 cases of poisoning recorded in the past three years, and 45 since January this year.

The cases of salmonella, which can cause food poisoning and in the most serious cases can kill, have been traced back to contaminated eggs and poultry farms.

The government has failed to issue public warnings regarding the safety of hen's eggs, even though outbreaks like these have been occurring for more than three years.

According to the investigation, conducted in co-operation with the Guardian, the Food Standards Agency (FSA) told the public in 2017 that it was safe for vulnerable people, including pregnant women, the elderly and children, to eat raw, runny or soft-boiled eggs, as the head of the FSA said the risk of salmonella was low.

However, internal records obtained by the investigation show that 25 egg-laying poultry flocks in the UK have tested positive for salmonella this year, with seven contaminated with the most serious strains of the bacteria.

Although infected eggs were kept from sale and the birds were slaughtered, some contaminated eggs still reached the public, leading to 45 people being poisoned since the start of this year, according to Public Health England (PHE), which told the investigation it was not aware of any deaths.

But PHE claimed it had been investigating this strain of salmonella for three years and last year found that 28 flocks tested positive for salmonella, four of them with dangerous strains.

The Bureau said: "This means that PHE knew of poisoning cases even as the FSA declared that almost all eggs produced in the UK were free of salmonella, and that it was safe once again for those vulnerable to infection to eat raw eggs."