Concern over drug found in eggs

One in eight egg samples contained the antibiotic

New concerns about traces of a potentially harmful drug found in some British eggs have been raised by an organic farming group.

The Soil Association says nearly one in eight egg samples tested contained traces of the antibiotic lasalocid.

It claims the drug could pose a risk to people with heart conditions.

The Food Standards Agency says the levels reported do not raise immediate health concerns but has criticised the poultry industry over the finding.

The food safety watchdog said it was disappointed the industry had not eradicated the drug from eggs.

Contamination

There has been concern for some time about lasalocid, a drug added to chicken feed to prevent gut infections.

It is not fed to laying hens but has been detected in eggs, probably through accidental contamination in feed mills.

If you're a consumer that gets the bad eggs you're not just going to get one bad egg Richard Young Soil Association adviser Q&A: Drugs in poultry

The Soil Association (SA), which promotes organic farming, says new government figures show 12% of samples tested last year contained traces of the drug.

Richard Young, policy adviser at the SA, said people should limit their daily egg intake.

"In this country we eat 26 million eggs a day and there are only about 250 sample egg tests so the question is how many contaminated eggs slip through the net?

Bad eggs together

"If you're a consumer that gets the bad eggs, you're not just going to get one bad egg.

"The whole batch that egg came from is probably contaminated so you're going to get a whole bad lot at one time."

However, the Veterinary Medicines Directorate, the government agency which tested the eggs, disputes the SA's claims.

The agency's advice about eating eggs remains the same Food Standards Agency spokesman

It says that because the tests are targeted towards suspect batches, the ratio of eggs containing lasalocid in the sample will be higher than the ratio for all eggs.

A spokesman for the Food Standards Agency said: "The levels of lasalocid in eggs do not raise any immediate health concerns for consumers.

"However, the FSA has been urging the industry to address this problem for some time and is disappointed by the industry's failure to take effective action to eradicate bad practices.

"The agency's advice about eating eggs remains the same."

The egg industry itself says recent changes in the way the drug is produced should prevent it from reaching egg-laying hens in future.

The SA's warning comes as a group of EU scientists meet in Brussels on Wednesday to discuss setting a legal maximum residue limit (MRL) for using Lasalocid in animal feed.