The Health Protection Agency (HPA) has seen seven cases of Salmonella Enteritidis PT1 following consumption of a pasteurised liquid egg product which was sold through Myprotein and Nutri Centre websites and Nutri Centre stores.
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Testing of a sample of the product also showed a positive result for the same type of Salmonella. No other products are known to be affected.
The product, a Myprotein own brand ‘Free Range Liquid Egg Whites’, was recalled on October 10 by the Food Standards Agency (FSA) and the company are no longer selling it. The FSA are working to identify the source of the eggs used in the product.
Salmonella bacteria live in the gut of many animals and can affect meat, eggs, poultry, and milk. Infection with this type of Salmonella causes a similar illness to other forms of Salmonella infection and symptoms include diarrhoea, vomiting, abdominal pain and fever.
There has been no national increase in this type of Salmonella. In the seven weeks from the end of August to 9 October (weeks 34-40) there were a total of 42 non-travel cases of Salmonella Enteritidis PT 1 reported to the HPA (including the seven cases above). This is compared to 48 and 47 cases in the same weeks in 2010 and 2011 respectively.
The 42 cases seen this year have been reported from most regions and range in age from infants to 78 years of age. There are more females than males (24 vs. 18) with half of the females being under ten years of age. The male cases are spread across most age groups.
Dr Bob Adak, the head of the gastrointestinal diseases department at the HPA said: “This egg product has been subject to a recall and so we hope that now that it is no longer in circulation that this will stop people becoming unwell. If anyone has any of this batch of product at home then they should dispose of it.
“Although there has been no increase in the number of cases of this type of Salmonella over recent weeks we are still investigating whether newly identified cases might be related to this egg product. To do this we intend to interview patients using a food questionnaire. As usual we will be working with our colleagues in the Food Standards Agency (FSA).”
