Brussels, 05/01/2009 (Agence Europe) - As of 1 January 2009, under the terms of regulation 1237/2007 (Commission regulation of 23 October 2007 amending European Parliament and Council regulation (EC) N° 2160/2003 and decision 2006/696/EC on the marketing of eggs from flocks infected with salmonella), eggs infected with salmonella may no longer be sold as table eggs.
Under this regulation, any eggs from flocks of laying eggs not monitored for the presence of salmonella or found positive of Salmonella Enteritidis or Salmonella Typhimurium can no longer be sold as table eggs for direct human consumption. Eggs thus infected, the largest source of cases of salmonellosis of food origin in humans, will now have to be processed as egg products and pasteurised to remove all risk to consumers.
The same rules apply to eggs imported from third countries.
In a press release, the European Commission notes that the first restrictions on the marketing of table eggs were introduced in 2003, through regulation 2160/2003 of the European Parliament and Council on the control of salmonella and other specified food-borne zoonotic agents. These restrictions were due to come into force at the end of 2009. However, the high salmonella prevalence recorded in flocks in an EU survey in 2005-2006 and in 2007 persuaded the Commission to bring the regulation into effect earlier. Regulation 1237/2007 of the Commission has, then, brought forward this public health measure by a year.
According to the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA), which is charged with reporting annually on the zoonoses, eggs and egg products are responsible for more than half of all outbreaks of human salmonellosis in the EU, where the source of infection can be demonstrated. More than 95% of these infections are caused by Salmonella Enteritidis or Salmonella Typhimurium. Monitoring for salmonella has been compulsory in flocks of laying hens since the beginning of 2008. Since then, whenever a case of salmonella is detected, measures have been taken to eliminate the infection from the farm. (A.N./transl.rt)