Eggs: panicking

[OptimisticRealist2024]

I ate runny poached eggs on toast at a restaurant (one of the Lounges chain) and assumed they'd be British Lion.

Am now freaking out - their website says they actually use free range and Red Lion "wherever possible".

I'm 13 weeks and had my scan yesterday. I'm absolutely beside myself. I've just read that listeriosis can have no symptoms, and I can't believe I assumed they'd be fine on the basis that no chain restaurant would put customers at risk knowingly. Do I call a doctor on the off-chance? Wait until I get really sick?

I imagine it will be free range when possible (bird flu season they’re often all caged) and all red lion stamped. Just ring and ask them.

I couldn't work out why you were worried so Googled.
This is from the NHS website.
It isn't a specific risk to your pregnancy, and the chances of you getting salmonella are extremely low. I would be very suprised if a restaurant wasn't using commercially produced eggs. Even if they weren't (and as far as I am aware all commercial flocks are vaccinated for salmonella) then there would have to have been a hen with salmonella, fecal matter on the eggshell and that to have contaminated the egg during cracking it.
Normal kitchen hygiene would make the likelihood of this really low imo.

Understand it can be a worrying time but restaurants don’t just use random eggs that make people unwell and the risk of getting anything is tiny in any case. You’re not waiting to get sick. There’s nothing you can do now and this is based on an assumption and a tiny risk

@Jingleberryalltheway I've been trying to get hold of them for over an hour, but the phone's permanently engaged 😣 Their website says "Through our suppliers, we support the FSA Red Tractor Farm Assured scheme, and wherever possible, ensure that every egg we cook for you is free-range and British Lion approved." - which I take means that they can use either Red Lion or non RL eggs. 🙁

@Onlyvisiting This helps a little - the Lounge I went to has a high food hygiene rating so presumably don't go spreading chicken poo everywhere.

@Adamsapple89 I get what you mean. I had an early loss over the summer and this is my first viable pregnancy - I'm quite worried about screwing this up

Honestly that advice is soooo out of date for normal eggs, flocks are vaccinated against salmonella

Please don’t call a doctor unless it’s to discuss your anxiety. You and your baby will be absolutely fine but the next 27 weeks will be very difficult for you if you don’t get some support for your anxiety.

Thanks - I'm just worried about harming the baby. This is my first viable pregnancy, I have no idea how big a fuck-up this is as all I've been told is that Red Lion eggs are safe - nobody has told me what I should do if I have eaten non-Red Lion eggs.

Well just to put your completely understandable worries into some perspective. I had full scale salmonella at 8 weeks pregnant, living abroad so no such thing as a red lion egg…. Was almost put on a drip and lost half a stone….

baby was fine.

You’ll be ok OP.

Thanks! Sorry to hear about your ordeal, but glad everything was okay in the end!

I have lived abroad until 25 weeks of pregnancy and there's no such thing as lion stamped eggs here.

The chances of catching salmonella are very slim anyway, let alone from eggs served in a UK restaurant.

I worked as a chef in a lounge chain, and we had pregnant women ask about the eggs, all the ones we used were red lion stamped

I suspect the wording on their website means they use red lion stamped eggs, but can’t be sure about eggs used in ingredients where something is bought in. I hope you get hold of someone to put your mind at rest and good luck with the rest of your pregnancy 🍀

You’re not going to get ill and you haven’t fucked anything up. Pregnant women are SO hard on themselves. Runny eggs are not
something I’ve worried about and whilst I buy red lion stamped ones for home, I will eat them runny when out without worrying about the source. A non stamped egg is still very very very unlikely to give you salmonella, especially in this country. There was no point looking up the source of the eggs after eating them; you’ve just fuelled your own anxiety and nobody can do anything about it now. Just put it behind you and try to rationalise the TINY risk. Unless you remain in your bedroom until your baby is born being brought perfectly balanced and prepared food three times a day, you will take many more and much bigger risks to yourself and the baby, both knowingly and unknowingly. Don’t worry!

I'm another one who lives outside the UK. There are no red lion eggs in Ireland and I had gestational diabetes so ate a LOT of eggs last pregnancy, never an issue. I'm pregnant again and ate an egg yesterday, didn't give it a second thought. Have you ever been ill from eggs in your life? Doubtful! So it's very unlikely to happen now.

Sorry you're struggling so much with your anxiety x

You’ll be absolutely fine, honestly. Almost all eggs produced in the UK are lion marked, the only way they wouldn’t be is if they came from a backyard egg producer and that won’t be the case for a commercial restaurant. And even backyard eggs are largely safe, salmonella is rare in the UK. Try to let the worry go, you absolutely haven’t harmed your baby!