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UK residents have been warned not to eat local contaminated eggs due to a major cancer risk.
Product recalls have become fairly common these days as defects and safety issues get flagged after items have already hit store shelves. We've seen it late last year when over 20,000 INIU power bank batteries that pose serious fire and burn risks were recalled.
However, when products are pulled because they contain dangerous cancer-causing chemicals, it understandably raises concern among the public.
Just last week, the FDA recalled almost 2,000 products, including food and drinks, after discovering contamination from 'rodent excreta and bird droppings', which poses a risk of making people seriously ill if they come in contact with it.
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Now, people in the UK are being urged to avoid eating locally produced eggs near a chemical plant after traces of a potentially carcinogenic substance were found.
The warning follows an ongoing investigation into pollution from the former ICI Hillhouse site in Thornton-Cleveleys, Lancashire, now run by AGC Chemicals Europe Ltd.
According to the investigation, led by Wyre Council and carried out by the Environment Agency,
cancer-linked chemical Perfluorooctanoic Acid (PFOA) was used in manufacturing processes and released into the air from the 1950s until 2012.
Scientists collected egg samples from domestic poultry keepers living within 1 kilometre of the site. Testing confirmed that levels of the carcinogenic chemical were 'elevated' and exceeded the recommended safe weekly intake, the Wyre Council reported.
The Food Standards Agency (FSA) warned that eating just one of these eggs per week could push someone over the safe exposure limit. In response, the Wyre Council added that birds kept for laying in a 1-kilometre radius area should not enter the food supply chain.
"The risk assessment undertaken by the Food Standards Agency has concluded that certain PFAS – notably PFOA - are present in the eggs sampled at a level that could increase the risk of harm to human health," said a spokesperson for the investigation. "We have been in touch with the poultry keepers themselves and will write to all households within 1km of the Hillhouse site to share the Food Standards Agency advice. We will continue to liaise closely with the FSA on this matter."
They noted that the news is 'likely to cause concern in the community,' however, reassure that 'the advice is issued on a precautionary basis to protect public health.'
Similarly, in 2025, residents were advised not to eat local fruit and vegetables due to the risk of soil contamination.
