THE Health Protection Unit has let down local egg producers by unnecessarily linking them with a salmonella outbreak, according to the owner of the Happy Hens Farm, Dr Bob Milner.
Dr Milner, who has run Happy Hens since 2001, was highly critical of the fact that last week’s health scare had been publicised by the unit without consultation with local producers.
Last week, the JEP reported that cases of salmonella food poisoning had risen in June, with nine cases of one particular strain of salmonella compared to four during the whole of 2003.
Dave Edwards from Health Protection was reported as saying that the situation was not a major problem, but it was important to address it before it reached that stage.
Although there was no conclusive evidence that eggs were causing the increase, the particular strain involved in the current problem was associated with poultry and eggs.
Dr Milner said: ‘Edwina Currie, who single-handedly destroyed the English fresh egg market, now has a challenger from Jersey.
Article posted on 19th July, 2004 - 12.00am
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