Letter: Egg safety

I WOULD like to correct Abi Izzard's claim (Letters, 8 January) that "eggs are a common carrier of salmonella". UK-produced eggs are now among the safest in Europe. A survey of 28,518 retail eggs by the Food Standards Agency in 2004 found no salmonella in any of them.

A similar survey by the Health Protection Agency and the Local Authority Co-ordinators of Regulatory Services in 2006 tested 34,116 eggs from 2,104 catering establishments. Salmonella species were isolated from only 0.3 per cent of eggs, but no salmonella was found inside, or on the shells, of British Lion Quality eggs. However, eggs imported from other European countries can have detection rates of 20-30 per cent.

CARRIE RUXTON

East Road

Cupar, Fife