On 3 December 1988, Edwina Currie, the parliamentary under-secretary of state for health, sparked a public health crisis with the claim that “most” British eggs were “now affected with salmonella”. Currie’s remarks triggered a collapse in egg sales, and ultimately led to her resignation from the government.

Currie, who had already acquired a reputation for outspokenness and attracting controversy, delivered her infamous salmonella warning during a television interview for ITN. She said that the government did warn people that “most of the egg production in this country, sadly, is now affected with salmonella.”

The minister added: “If, however, they’ve used a good source of eggs, a good shop that they know, and they’re content, then there sees – there seems no reason for them to stop, but we would advise strongly against using raw egg, mayonnaise and dressings and Bloody Marys and that sort of thing.

“They are not a good idea anymore.”

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As a result of Currie’s warning, egg sales plummeted by 60% – creating a surplus of approximately 20 million eggs a day. The loss of revenue (estimated at £5 million) is said to have led to the slaughter of four million hens. The British Egg Industry Council denounced Currie’s remarks as “factually incorrect and highly irresponsible”. The council said that the risk of an egg being infected was less than 200 million to one.

With 5,000 chicken farmers facing bankruptcy, at least one producer obtained a court writ for a claim of damages for slander of goods.

The minister of agriculture, John MacGregor, was subsequently asked if he was “very cross” with Currie over her remarks. He replied that it was “not the case that most eggs are infected with salmonella.”

He told the BBC: “Neither the health secretary, Mr Kenneth Clarke, nor I, have any evidence of that. The healthy egg-eating public can be reassured that the risks of them becoming sick from eating an infected egg are very small.

“I am an avid egg-eater and I shall continue eating them.”

Currie later claimed she meant “much of the egg production” rather than “most of the egg production”. But there was a genuine public health issue. A rise in Salmonella enteritidis had been detected, and a Whitehall report from February 1989, produced two months after Currie’s resignation, later confirmed a “salmonella epidemic of considerable proportions.” This report, revealed in December 2001, still fell short of Currie’s claim that “most of the egg production in this country” was infected with salmonella.

Margaret Thatcher, the prime minister, told the House of Commons on 15 December that the government was “aware of the deep problems facing the egg industry.”

Currie initially received support from Thatcher and Clarke as health secretary. John Major, the chief secretary to the Treasury, described Currie as a “forceful, colourful politician” who “speaks her mind”. But mounting pressure from the agriculture industry and Conservative MPs in farming constituencies precipitated her resignation on 16 December.

Currie conceded that her resignation was “the best course”. In response, Thatcher said she received Currie’s resignation letter with “great personal sadness.”

She added: “It has, I know, been a very difficult time and I fully understand your reasons for resigning. We shall miss the great energy and enthusiasm you have brought to all your work both for the government and for the party in the country.”

The so-called ‘salmonella affair’ meant Currie was now landed with the moniker ‘Eggwina’.

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In the wake of Currie’s comments, the government was forced to introduce a multi-million-pound compensation package. The package covered the destruction of surplus eggs and the slaughter of approximately four million hens. The government also began an advertising campaign in all the major newspapers entitled: “Eggs. The Facts.”

The advertising campaign said: “So far this year there have been 49 reported outbreaks of salmonella traced back to eggs. These outbreaks have affected 1,000 people, but this underestimates the numbers.”

Currie lost her seat at the 1997 general election, after which she pursued a career as a novelist and broadcaster. In 2002, the publication of Currie’s Diaries (1987–92) revealed a four-year affair with John Major before he became prime minister.

In 1998, the ‘British Lion Mark’ scheme was introduced, indicating that the marked egg was produced by a vaccinated hen.

After the release of the Whitehall report on Salmonella, Currie said she had been vindicated.

She responded: “I was obliged to resign because the egg producers were threatening writs at the time. They never have been served, because they didn’t have a leg to stand on at the time and don’t have one now.

“I was kept informed by the Public Health Laboratory Service, who were sterling people and never flinched. I was not given support by the Ministry of Agriculture, who should have known better. An awful lot of people have been ill and some have died.

“If Maff [Ministry for Agriculture, Food and Fisheries] had taken food safety seriously maybe they would have tackled BSE and foot and mouth better.”

In 2013, Currie told the Grocer that “The basis of the warning was entirely sound.”

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