UK HEALTH OFFICIALS WARN VULNERABLE GROUPS AGAINST RUNNY EGGS WHEN DINING OUT

Sat 22 August 2026:

Under-fives, over 65s, pregnant women and those with health conditions should avoid undercooked or runny eggs when eating out due to a salmonella outbreak, the Food Standards Agency (FSA) warned Friday.

Vulnerable people should not eat undercooked eggs when eating out, but well-cooked eggs in restaurants, cafes and from takeaways were fine to eat, FSA Chief Scientific Adviser Ian Young told BBC.

Young added: “If people are eating out or consuming eggs or egg-containing products from cafes and restaurants then for those people in particular who are young, elderly, pregnant or vulnerable, it’s important to make sure that any eggs or egg products that you consume in those settings have been very well cooked.”

It came after the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) declared a national outbreak of salmonella after one person died and hundreds more fell ill.

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In a statement on Tuesday, the UKHSA said one person had died and 207 others had fallen ill in a salmonella outbreak in the UK between Aug. 11, 2025 and Aug. 1, 2026.

Health officials believe it may be linked to food made with imported eggs, with under-fives, over 65s, pregnant women and those with health conditions advised to be cautious.

Describing the outbreak as “unusually large and rapidly increasing,” Young warned that people “need to be careful.”

Undercooked or runny eggs and Salmonella: the quick link

Salmonella bacteria can live inside eggs (not just on the shell) if the hen is infected. The bacteria survive in the yolk and white when eggs are only lightly cooked—think soft-boiled, sunny-side-up, poached with runny yolks, or used raw in sauces.

Cooking eggs until both white and yolk are firm (or reach about 160°F / 71°C) kills the bacteria. Anything less leaves live Salmonella that can cause food poisoning—diarrhea, fever, vomiting—sometimes leading to outbreaks when many people eat the same contaminated batch of undercooked eggs.

That’s why food-safety advice is simple: fully cook eggs or use pasteurized ones if you want them runny.

SOURCE: INDEPENDENT PRESS AND NEWS AGENCIES

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