Current advice
If you use British Lion eggs and follow the normal, simple hygiene rules you would with any fresh food, this will help you maintain the highest food safety standards.
Egg handling guidelines:
- Growth of salmonella can be prevented or minimised by low temperature storage, particularly in the kitchen, where temperature fluctuations can accelerate changes to yolk membrane permeability.
- Eggs should be kept at a constant temperature below 20ºC to prevent deterioration in yolk membrane permeability and minimise growth of any micro-organisms that may be present.
- Eggs should be stored separately from other foods, preferably in the egg box. Eggs should be brought to room temperature before cooking.
- At room temperature homogenised egg provides an ideal medium for the growth of micro-organisms and it is therefore essential to avoid any risk of cross-contamination.
- Cooked egg dishes should be eaten as soon as possible after cooking and, if not for immediate use, should be stored in the refrigerator.
- Hands should always be washed before and after handling shell eggs. Cracked or dirty eggs should not be used.
At the time of the salmonella and eggs scare in 1988, the Department of Health recommended that recipes for uncooked dishes involved the use of raw eggs should be avoided, and that lightly cooked eggs should not be served to vulnerable groups – ie infants, pregnant women, elderly and debilitated people.
This advice, however, pre-dates the introduction of the British Lion food safety scheme in 1998. Since then salmonella has been virtually eliminated from British Lion eggs.