Surveillance has finally confirmed that Salmonella Enteritidis contamination in eggs was from a Ukrainian food producer.
The Food Standards Agency (FSA) has initiated an urgent product recall and withdrawal across the catering and wholesale supply chains.
The alert, issued as a formal Food Alert for Action, directs commercial kitchens, food manufacturers, wholesale distributors, and independent corner shops to purge the affected batches from their inventories immediately.
While the majority of the imported volume entered the commercial catering ecosystem, a portion entered retail circulation via smaller convenience grocers. Major supermarket chains are not involved, as their retail egg supply is produced domestically.
The contamination was uncovered during a wider UKHSA and FSA investigation into an ongoing rise in foodborne infections. Microbiological sampling of imported batches identified Salmonella Enteritidis strain t5.8998.
Subsequent whole-genome sequencing (WGS) revealed that while the Ukrainian isolate is genetically distinct from the primary outbreak strain currently under investigation, it is epidemiologically linked to 36 confirmed clinical infections registered across England throughout 2026.
Jacquelyn McCormick, Head of Incidents at the Food Standards Agency said: "Eggs bought in major supermarkets are produced in the UK, and therefore not affected by this outbreak. This issue relates specifically to eggs from one business in Ukraine, which are primarily supplied through wholesalers and the catering supply chain, but also sold at small retailers.
"We are urging businesses and consumers to follow our advice in the Food Alert For Action. Consumers should not eat these eggs and businesses should withdraw them, and where retail sales have occurred, recall them, as these eggs may be unsafe to eat."
Hannah Charles, Lead Epidemiologist at UKHSA, said: "We are urging the UK public to follow FSA advice which they have outlined in their Food Alert for Action.
"The S. Enteritidis strain we identified in this batch of imported eggs is genetically different to S. Enteritidis strains linked to the ongoing Salmonella outbreak investigation, but is associated with 36 Salmonella cases in England reported in 2026."
The FSA and UKHSA are coordinating with local authority environmental health teams to enforce compliance across distribution hubs and are liaising with international food safety counterparts to track upstream consignments.
