UK food businesses have been urged to put trust in British Lion assured eggs after several Belgian supermarkets were forced to recall eggs amid another food safety scare.
The organic eggs were produced by the brand EKE and were found to contain excess levels of dioxins. It is not clear if the contaminated batch of eggs has also been used for processing.
Dioxins
Dioxins are highly toxic and can cause reproductive and developmental problems, damage the immune system, interfere with hormones and also cause cancer.
It’s not the first time the Belgian egg industry has had problems with contamination. In 1999, high levels of dioxins were found in poultry and eggs from the country.
The cause of the 1999 recall was traced to animal feed contaminated with PCB-based waste industrial oil which had been illegally disposed of.
Meanwhile, in the UK, British Lion egg processors are calling on food businesses to buy British instead.
Andrew Joret, British Egg Industry Council chairman explained there have been a number of non-UK egg food safety scares in the last few years, from fipronil, to dioxins and salmonella.
“This incident is just the latest in a long line of food safety issues related to non-UK eggs,” Joret said.
While there is no evidence that the contaminated egg has been exported, UK food businesses should protect themselves by putting their trust in British Lion eggs and egg products, which are produced to the highest standards of food safety.
“They can also reassure their customers by using the British Lion mark on the pack.”
The British Lion is the UK’s most successful food safety mark, with over 90% of UK eggs now produced within its strict guidelines.
They include a guarantee that hens and eggs are British, as well as that all hens are vaccinated against salmonella and kept to higher welfare standards than the law demands.
Every British Lion egg also gets a unique number, which acts as a passport and means every egg, hen and bag of feed is completely traceable, every step of the way.
