The British Egg Industry Council has written to leading butchers organisations to warn them of the dangers of displaying eggs in shop windows.

Fluctuating temperatures are likely to lead to degradation of the quality of eggs kept in direct sunlight, potentially resulting in customer complaints and creating unnecessary problems for butchers.

Eggs should also be stored correctly (dry and out of direct sunlight) to minimise the risk from salmonella, should this be present. The problems will increase over the summer months, but even in the winter months there can be issues, particularly when there is direct sunlight on the shop window.

If eggs containing salmonella are stored incorrectly, this will lead to the salmonella present multiplying rapidly, which increases the health threat to consumers. Although British Lion eggs have been extensively tested for salmonella – in the most recent Food Standards Agency tests salmonella was not recovered from inside any British Lion eggs – there is still a risk from non-Lion imported eggs.

In addition, although British Lion eggs carry a best before date on the shell, there is no legal requirement to date-stamp eggs and, unless stock is rotated carefully, both the quality and safety of eggs may be impaired.