Why are we more scared of raw egg than reheated rice?

Twenty-five years ago minister Edwina Currie sparked a scare over salmonella in eggs and had to resign amid outrage from farmers and plummeting sales. The panic has shaped the way we think about food safety.

There are foods that people instinctively associate with the risk of poisoning - raw chicken, raw egg, shellfish.

At the time of Edwina Currie's remarks - which were perceived to have dramatically exaggerated the prevalence of the disease in eggs in the UK - there were 12,302 cases of the salmonella PT4 strand most commonly found in poultry.

It dropped by 54% in the three years following the introduction of the British Lion scheme in 1998, which saw hens vaccinated against salmonella, and last year there were just 229 reported cases.

Continue reading

E-mail me when people leave their comments –

You need to be a member of safefood Knowledge Network to add comments!

Join safefood Knowledge Network