Pregnant women, young children and the elderly have helped boost sales of British Lion standard eggs, new figures show.
Vulnerable groups can now safely eat runny or even raw eggs under advice issued last year by the Government’s food safety watchdog, almost 30 years after the UK salmonella crisis.
A year on from the change in official advice, retail egg sales have soared to new heights.
While the egg market has enjoyed a period of long-term sustained growth the latest figures are particularly significant as they cover the year since the Food Standards Agency amended its advice.
The October figures show egg sales volume up +4.9% (Kantar Worldpanel 12 w/e 7.10.18), around 70 million additional eggs, or the equivalent of more than one additional egg for every person in the UK, have been sold at retail compared to the same period in 2017.
The good news for the market is that sales are actually accelerating, with volume up +6% for the latest 4 week period (4 w/e 7.10.18).
Andrew Joret, Chairman of the British Egg Industry Council, said: “We have long-since felt that vulnerable groups have been avoiding eggs and missing out on their fantastic nutritional benefits, and these figures would appear to support that.
“This is fantastic news for both retailers and the egg industry and underlines the continuing popularity of eggs as a meal solution for the whole population, but it’s just the tip of the iceberg.
Mr Joret added: “We expected the change in egg safety advice to take some time to filter through as the previous advice has been passed down through generations of families and health professionals, so we’re delighted to see such a significant impact in just a year.
“With this barrier now removed everyone can benefit from eggs, however they are cooked, and we feel very confident that egg sales will continue to grow and grow,” he said.
The British Lion Code of Practice is the UK’s most successful food safety scheme. More than 90% of UK eggs are now produced to British Lion standards and more than 150 billion British Lion eggs have been produced since its launch in 1998.
The Lion scheme has effectively eliminated Salmonella from British Lion eggs and, in 2017, the Food Standards Agency confirmed that Lion eggs are the only ones that are safe to be consumed runny, or even raw.
