UK
20 May 2010
The Foods Standards Agency has issued a further update on the investigation into last year's increase in England and Wales in the number of cases of a certain type of salmonella. An outbreak in mid-August 2009 of Salmonella Enteritidis phage type (PT) 14b was possibly linked to an egg production premises in Spain.
The UK and Spanish authorities have been working in close cooperation to investigate this case and the Agency has received information from Spanish officials that a full investigation and sampling at the egg production premises, Granja Avícola ‘El Angel’, has been carried out. The authorities are content that appropriate action has been taken and this means that eggs can be sold directly from most of the premises direct to the consumer.
However, there is one particular flock at the Spanish plant whose eggs can only be placed on the market if they are used to manufacture egg products. This is because such products are heat treated, which ensures that any salmonella that may be present is destroyed. UK local authorities and the Egg Marketing Inspectorate at Defra have been made aware of this.
The Health Protection Agency has published the conclusions of its national case control study into the increase in Salmonella Enteritidis (PT) 14b in England and Wales. The conclusions can be found in the report available at the link towards the end of this page.