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EDWINA
PUTS EGGS BACK ON THE MENU
Sixteen years after her remarks about salmonella in eggs led her to
resign
her
post at the Department of Health, Edwina Currie officially gives the
thumbs-up
to the new safety standards of British eggs by launching British
Egg
Week.
Mrs Currie is taking centre stage to launch a new campaign to encourage
people
to cook their perfect omelette, and has even helped put eggs back on
the
menu at the House of Commons, to mark the start of British Egg Week.
Edwina Currie is among 12 celebrity chefs, including Delia Smith and
Gordon
Ramsay,
who have donated a recipe to a new 'Perfect Omelette' cookbook.
The
booklet
is being launched at the House of Commons, where MPs will be served
a
week of egg dishes at restaurants throughout the
Palace
of
Westminster
.
Consumers
will also be encouraged to cook omelettes through promotions in
retail
outlets and gyms throughout the
UK
.
Edwina
Currie was Junior Health Minister when she drew attention to a
problem
with salmonella in eggs in 1988. Sales
of eggs fell by 60%
overnight
and many egg producers went out of business.
Since then, however,
the
industry has virtually eliminated salmonella in
UK
eggs through a £20
million
investment in the British Lion salmonella vaccination and food
safety
programme. Reports this year
by both the Food Standards Agency (FSA)
and
Health Protection Agency (HPA) have acknowledged the huge progress made
by
the
UK
egg industry.
Edwina Currie said: "The British egg industry has spent years
putting its
house
in order and unlike many other industries, they've done it without
subsidies.
I was happy to donate my recipe and lend my support to this
launch.
Although my omelette recipe is Spanish in origin, only British
Lion
eggs
should be used."
Andrew Parker, Chairman of the British Egg Industry Council, said:
"British
eggs
are now among the safest in the world and the support of Edwina Currie
is
the ultimate accolade for the industry, reflecting the huge progress we
have
made over the past decade."
For
further information please contact the British Egg Information Service
on
020 7370 7411
Note
- the booklet, 'My perfect omelette' is available through
the
British Egg Information Service and contains recipes from Gordon Ramsay,
Delia
Smith, Marco Pierre White, Rick Stein, Gary Rhodes and many others.
(12/10/04) |
