Food Standards Agency endorses British egg safety

The Food Standards Agency has given a huge endorsement to the safety of British eggs by relaxing its advice on using eggs after their best before date.

The Agency, which had previously stated that all eggs must be used within their best before date, now says that it is ok to eat eggs a couple of days after the best before date has passed, citing the low levels of salmonella in British eggs as one of the main reasons.

The British egg industry, led by the Lion scheme, has invested heavily to ensure that British eggs are produced to the highest food safety standards, which has seen levels of salmonella plummet.

However, the British egg industry has warned consumers to make sure they continue to look for the Lion ahead of new legislation which may see eggs from illegal battery cages, not produced to the same standards as British Lion eggs, being sold in the UK from 1 January 2012.  

Mark Williams, Chief Executive of the British Egg Industry Council, said:  “This is great news for the British egg industry.  The Lion scheme is the gold standard of food safety schemes and we are delighted that the Food Standards Agency has now given the all clear.”  
 
The FSA’s new advice is that, providing the eggs are cooked thoroughly, they can be eaten a day or two after their ‘best before’ date.