THERE is nothing more tasty that dipping your toast soldiers into a runny egg – and it is now officially safe to do so.

After years of urging caution to 'vulnerable' demographics like old folk, pregnant women and young children, Food Standards Scotland has changed its advice on eating soft or runny eggs, telling consumers to go ahead without caution.

The move is in recognition of the significant progress that egg producers across Scotland and the UK have made in reducing the presence of salmonella in their hens, and finally dispels the gloom which descended in 1988 when the then junior Conservative health minister, Edwina Currie, mistakenly declared to TV reporters that 'most' UK egg production was affected by the food poisoning bug.

The revised advice on cooking times follows a report from the advisory committee on the Microbiological Safety of Food, which highlighted the major reduction in the risk from salmonella in all UK hens’ eggs since 2001 and showed a particularly low risk for eggs produced with food safety controls applied by the British Lion code of practice.

FSS head of food protection, science and surveillance, Dr Jacqui McElhiney, said: “We previously advised that people who are at higher risk of becoming very ill if they contract food poisoning should only eat fully cooked or hard-boiled eggs.

“The findings from the scientific review provide the assurance Food Standards Scotland needs to change its advice. Whilst healthy consumers can continue to enjoy all UK eggs any way they choose, it’s good news that children, pregnant women and the elderly can now safely eat their eggs soft boiled, runny or raw, as long as they’re stamped with the British Lion Code mark," said Dr McElhiney.

“It’s important to note though that this revised advice does not apply to the severely immunocompromised, who require medically supervised diets,” she added.

Robert Chapman, former chair of NFU Scotland’s poultry working group, who runs the award-winning Farmlay Eggs business at Strichen, Aberdeenshire, said: “The advice that tasty eggs, whether soft-boiled or sunny side up, can be safely enjoyed by all is fantastic news for the Scottish egg sector.

“It has been a long, long time coming, but this is welcome recognition of the hard work and effort put in by egg producers to tackle the threat of salmonella in their flocks. I hope this clean bill of health will encourage more Scottish consumers to put even more Scottish eggs in their shopping basket each week.”

The British Free Range Egg Producers Association has long argued that the guidance should be changed to reflect the enormous steps that British Lion Code producers, packers and processors have taken to provide a perfectly safe product.

BFREPA’s chief executive Robert Gooch said: “This is a huge development because there will be millions of consumers who may have been avoiding eating eggs because of many years of conflicting advice.

"But after today’s announcement no-one can be left in any doubt as to the safety of British Lion Code eggs. The Code of Practice that the scheme operates has been developed over 20 years and is something that we should all be very proud of."