Egg on face of Commons kitchen committee

Sunday, November 3, 2013

In August, the British House of Commons kitchen banned fresh eggs and MPs were in a fury. Labour MP Thomas Docherty, vice chair of the Commons Administration Committee, ordered an inquiry. A Commons spokesperson insisted the ban was in line with Food Standards Agency advice. If scrambled eggs, mousses or omelets do not reach a core temperature of 75 C they must be made with pasteurized liquid egg rather than fresh eggs. The concern is that eggs are contaminated with salmonella.

But MPs questioned whether the public would accept that they were allowed to eat food cooked to a lower standard.

The Food Standards Agency said it was a misunderstanding; there was no legal requirement to use pasteurized eggs and there is nothing wrong with most people eating fresh eggs. The "guidance" about using the liquid version was for vulnerable people such as the elderly and the seriously ill. BF