The call for action comes amid scares over egg contamination across Europe and follows the FSA’s announcement yesterday that a small number of the eggs, potentially containing traces of the pesticide Fipronil, had entered the UK.
Independent research commissioned by the British Lion showed that consumers are increasingly concerned that foreign eggs are being used in the prepared foods they buy.
Findings revealed that 40% of shoppers said they would be less likely to support a retailer if they used imported eggs in their products, something which the company’s chair Ian Jones said should mean ‘greater clarity’ on food packaging.
He said: “This is just the latest of a number of food safety issues connected to eggs produced outside of the UK in recent years.
“Consumers clearly want retailers, caterers and food manufacturers to use good quality British ingredients that are produced to high standards of food safety, but in some prepared foods this is not the case.”
“As we approach Brexit, shoppers are growing increasingly concerned about the ingredients used in manufactured food and now more than ever want and deserve transparency on food packaging.”
The Food Standards Agency watchdog said the threat to public health from the imported eggs was “very low” and that the number of eggs involved represents about 0.0001 per cent of the eggs brought into the UK each year.
Over 90% of UK eggs are now produced under the British Lion scheme, which was first launched in 1998.