With so much bad news in the farming industry it was great news that the egg industry has announced a success story with its Lion Quality Mark Eggs. A 53% reduction in cases of salmonella poisoning has been achieved since 1997 and the British Egg Information Service believes this is down to their eggs. This is backed up by the independent expert Advisory Committee on the Microbiological Safety of Food which also believes that this reflects a corresponding fall in the levels of salmonella in eggs. ACMSF advises the Food Standards Agency and should know what its talking about. What I can't understand is that with all the evidence in place ­ 80,000 Lion Quality Eggs were independently tested last year and were all free of salmonella ­ why should they ask the FSA to carry out further rigorous testing and a further survey of retail eggs over the next couple of years? Let's just rejoice that there is some good news at last. But understandably we cannot sit on our laurels, there is still work to be done. Some 75% of all eggs sold in the UK are Lion Quality. What about the other 25%? It turns out that some of the most vulnerable sectors of society ­ hospitals, schools and the catering industry ­ still buy the cheapest available options, often second quality imported eggs. This is nothing short of scandalous. It is time that every council, every school and every environmental health department lay down the law and insisted on the little Lion. Threats of due diligence' should work a treat. There is no place for cutting corners or cutting costs when dealing with the health of the nation's most vulnerable. In these dark times for farming, let the success of eggs shine like a beacon. At least it's a start. With a little bit of luck we'll soon have the nation going to work on an egg' once again. {{NEWS }}