Quick answer
Choose traceable eggs suitable for the dish and customers, reject damaged or dirty eggs and prevent shell/raw-egg contamination. For raw or lightly cooked hen-egg dishes served to vulnerable customers, current guidance specifies British Lion or Laid in Britain assurance, with a separate medically supervised-diet exception. Non-hen eggs should be thoroughly cooked. Keep cracked pooled eggs refrigerated, use on the same day and never top up.
Egg safety includes the shell and the finished dish
Salmonella may be inside eggs or on their shells. Handling eggs, packaging and cracked liquid can contaminate hands, equipment and ready-to-eat food.
Current FSA catering egg guidance covers England, Wales and NI. FSS advice gives the Scottish assurance-scheme and consumer-group distinctions.
Match egg selection to the dish
| Situation | Control to establish |
|---|---|
| Delivery | Reputable supplier, provenance, traceability and acceptable condition. |
| Thoroughly cooked dish | Safe eggs, hygienic handling and suitable cooking. |
| Raw/lightly cooked hen-egg dish for vulnerable customers | Verified appropriate assurance or suitable pasteurised egg product. |
| Severely immunocompromised person on a medically supervised diet | Obtain the appropriate medical/care-team advice; general assurance advice does not cover this. |
| Duck, goose, quail or other non-hen eggs | Thorough cooking; do not apply hen-egg assurance advice. |
| Pasteurised egg product | Follow its own storage, opening and use instructions. |
Understand what assurance does and does not establish
FSA identifies British Lion and Laid in Britain hen eggs as very low risk for Salmonella. This is not a guarantee that an egg is pathogen-free, and hygiene remains necessary.
For the vulnerable groups covered by the advice, verify the scheme for raw/lightly cooked use. If assurance cannot be verified, FSA advises thorough cooking or suitable pasteurised egg products. Do not make an individual medical-diet decision from the scheme mark alone.
Control storage and raw-egg work
Keep eggs in a suitable cool, dry place, ideally refrigerated until use, and separate them from other food. Wash hands after relevant egg/shell contact and clean/disinfect affected equipment and surfaces.
Reject cracked, damaged or dirty eggs. FSA’s specific catering guidance advises against using eggs beyond their best-before date. Serve prepared egg dishes promptly, or cool them quickly and keep chilled under a suitable method.
Keep pooled eggs under a clear same-day method
For eggs cracked in advance, refrigerate the liquid, take only small amounts as needed and use it as soon as possible. FSA says to use all pooled liquid egg on the same day and never add fresh eggs to top it up.
Keep the batch identifiable and equipment clean. Commercial pasteurised products have their own instructions; do not invent one generic opened-product life for every format.
Worked example: assurance cannot be confirmed for a mousse
Hypothetical example: a caterer plans an uncooked egg mousse for customers who may include vulnerable people, but cannot confirm the supplied shell eggs’ assurance.
The caterer uses an appropriate verified pasteurised product or changes to a safely cooked preparation, while keeping ingredient/allergen information accurate. Guessing the scheme from the supplier’s usual brand would leave the selection unresolved.
Next steps
Check egg provenance, the intended dish and the people served, then document storage and preparation instructions. Connect ingredient changes with recipe/allergen change controls.
Read current official catering egg guidance — Check current assurance, handling, pooled-egg and customer-group distinctions.