Alert at UK supermarkets as number of feared Fipronil contaminated eggs grows to 700,000 up from 20,000
Egg sandwiches and fillers have been recalled from Sainsbury's, Asda, Waitrose and Morrisons over Dutch pesticide scandal
A DOZEN varieties of sandwich and fillers containing eggs being sold in UK supermarkets have been recalled after fears they may have been contaminated with a pesticide.
Items sold at Waitrose, Sainsbury's, Asda and Morrisons are some of the affected products, the Food Standards Agency said.
It now believes that the number of contaminated eggs in the UK is closer to 700,000, rather than the 21,000 that it previously estimated.
The FSA said investigations into the Fipronil incident in Europe suggested it was "very unlikely" that the eggs posed a risk to public health.
It believes most of the contaminated eggs were used in processed foods in which egg is one ingredient among many others, mostly used in sandwich fillings or other chilled foods.
It said some of the products made from these eggs will have had a short shelf life and will have already been consumed, but some were still within the expiry date and were being withdrawn by the businesses involved.
Many of the eggs were mixed with others which had not come from affected farms so Fipronil residues would be highly diluted, the FSA said.
The decision to withdraw the products was not due to food safety concerns but based on the fact that the pesticide is not authorised for use in food-producing animals.
The FSA said it had no evidence that eggs laid in the UK are contaminated or that Fipronil has been used inappropriately in the UK.
Testing of eggs on farms is underway across the UK and results to date for England and Wales show no exposure to Fipronil.
FSA chairwoman Heather Hancock said: "I'm confident that acting quickly is the right thing to do.
"The number of eggs involved is small in proportion to the number of eggs we eat, and it is very unlikely that there is a risk to public health.
"Based on the available evidence there is no need for people to change the way they consume or cook eggs.
"However, Fipronil is not legally allowed for use near food-producing animals and it shouldn't be there."
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A spokesperson from Sainsbury's said: "The safety of our products is our priority. Our supplier has made us aware that two salad bowls, which contain egg, may include very small traces of fipronil."
It has decided to withdraw the products from sale temporarily as a "precautionary measure".
A spokesperson from Asda said: "Customers should be reassured by the FSA’s explanation that this decision is not due to food safety concerns and there is unlikely to be any risk to public health from consuming any of these three products."
A Morrisons spokeswoman said: "100 per cent of our whole eggs are British and none of these eggs are affected."
What is Fipronil and how did the egg scandal start?
MILLIONS of eggs have been removed from shelves across the continent over fears they could be contaminated with Fipronil.
The scare started in the Netherlands and Belgium and it is thought that Dutch disinfectant is at fault.
Dozens of farms are being checked in the Netherlands, while Belgium's food safety agency is probing how Fipronil might have entered eggs destined for supermarkets.
It has the potential to be the largest recall of eggs in history.
Fipronil is an insecticide that - in an ideal world - should never find its way into a chicken coop.
But it somehow got mixed up with a cleaning agent and sanitiser at some poultry farms.
It is a "highly toxic" pesticide which could be harmful if ingested but you'd need to have eaten a very large quantity of contaminated eggs for that to happen.
The likelihood of any related food illnesses from consuming contaminated products is very low.
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