At least 306 people in Belgium have been infected with salmonella in an outbreak traced back to eggs from Laerco, a producer based in Geel, in the north of the country.
The bacteria was first detected at the farm in late April, confined at the time to one of its four henhouses, and prompted a large scale recall the following month. Contamination later turned up in a second henhouse as well, leading the Belgian Federal Agency for the Safety of the Food Chain, known as FASFC, to halt operations at the farm entirely and order a further recall of any products that might still be in circulation.
Eggs reached shelves across several countries
The affected eggs had already been distributed through major supermarket chains, including Colruyt, Delhaize, Aldi and Carrefour. As a precaution, the recall was extended into Luxembourg, and FASFC has notified counterparts in the Netherlands, France, Italy and Portugal that they may also have received some of the contaminated batches.
Salmonella is a group of bacteria that causes a gastrointestinal illness known as salmonellosis. Most people experience diarrhoea, fever and stomach cramps, while more serious cases can bring on high fever and body aches. The bacteria naturally live in the digestive systems of farm animals and can pass into food during rearing, slaughter or processing.