Eggs produced in Ireland are almost totally free from salmonella, it emerged tonight.
Just two egg samples from over 5,000 tested contained salmonella in the shell, with no egg contents contaminated.
The survey, commissioned by Safefood, studied at the prevalence of salmonella in eggs both north and south of the country and compared two approaches to salmonella control.
"The continued decrease in the prevalence of s almonella enteritidisin laying flocks on the island of Ireland is very encouraging," said Martin Higgins, Safefood chief executive.
"The results of this study show that the two methods for controlling salmonella on the island of Ireland are equally effective in reducing the prevalence in eggs.
"Infections from salmonella in the human population are therefore unlikely to result from eating eggs that have been produced on the island of Ireland."
In the 1980s, the number of human cases of salmonella enteritidisrose dramatically. This was followed by the introduction of legislation, industry codes of practice and quality assurance schemes to control salmonella in laying flocks, resulting in a decrease in the incidence of salmonella in Great Britain and Ireland.
Between April 2005 and 2006, researchers from Queen's University Belfast, UCD, and Strathclyde University analysed over 5,000 samples of six varieties of eggs from flocks north and south of the border, with 30,000 eggs examined in total.
Only two positive samples were recorded with salmonella infantisand salmonella montevideoin shells, a significantly lower finding than a recent survey in the UK.
Consumers are reminded that eggs with damaged or visibly dirty shells should not be consumed as eggs are porous and bacteria can enter the egg through the egg shell.