At least 306 people in Belgium have fallen ill after eating eggs contaminated with salmonella, the Federal Agency for the Safety of the Food Chain (FASFC) said on Tuesday.
The outbreak has been traced to egg producer Laerco in Geel, and the agency has now blocked the entire poultry farm.
As a precaution, the eggs are also being recalled in eight other European countries, including the Netherlands, France, Italy and Portugal, FASFC spokesperson Hélène Bonte said.
The salmonella bacteria were first detected in late April. In May, a first large-scale recall was launched for all eggs from the company’s site in Geel.
The measures were later refined, and the contamination initially appeared to be limited to one of the farm’s four sheds. However, the number of newly reported salmonella cases did not fall as quickly as expected. Further samples were then taken, which showed that a second shed was also contaminated. The agency subsequently decided to block the entire site and organise a new recall.
The products concerned are free-range eggs bearing the stamp codes 2-BE-1073-01, 2-BE-1073-02, 2-BE-1073-03 and 2-BE-1073-04.
The eggs were distributed through several supermarket chains, including Aldi and Carrefour. Consumers are being urged not to eat them and to return them to the shop where they were bought for a refund.
Salmonella is a bacterium mainly found in raw meat, eggs and dairy products. Infection can cause symptoms such as diarrhoea, nausea and vomiting between 12 and 96 hours after consumption. The symptoms usually clear up on their own after a few days. But salmonella can be more dangerous for high-risk groups, including young children, older people and those with weakened immune systems.
