In 1988, then junior UK health minister Edwina Currie warned the British public that most of the egg production in the UK was affected by Salmonella. The ramifications were colossal, causing egg sales to plummet.
Almost 25 years after her comments on Salmonella caused UK egg sales to implode, Edwina Currie has told The Grocer she had no regrets. While admitting she would have modified her words, in an exclusive video interview Currie said: “The basis of the warning was entirely sound.”
Irony can be pretty ironic sometimes. Even ironical.
In Dec. 1988, then junior minister UK Health Minister told a television reporter the majority of UK eggs were contaminated with salmonella. A lawsuit by UK egg producers led to Curie’s resignation and millions worth of compensation for egg producers.
.jpg)
For Peter Webb it was gold.
ETI – Electronic Temperature Instruments – was founded in Worthing, West Sussex, in 1983. The company makes digital and infrared thermometers, as well as pressure meters and other related instruments.
It supplies the catering industry and supermarkets, including Waitrose, for use on their hot-food counters. Other clients are pharmaceutical firms and hospitals, which need to keep drugs or blood at a certain temperature.
This is Money reports that when Currie made her comments in 1988, the firm saw turnover soar ‘virtually overnight’ from £1million to £3million. It now stands at more than £7million.
ETI is the biggest maker of digital thermometers in the country making 3,500 a week. Peter, 57, employs 120 staff and the firm makes 80 per cent of its products in Britain. The business continues to thrive despite the downturn.
And despite consumer recommendations to just cook things until they are piping hot. Good thing ETI targeted food service.