Polish egg imports under fire in France after national Lidl salmonella recall
Published on : 28 Jul 2026
Lidl France has recalled Polish eggs nationwide after Salmonella Enteritidis was detected. The French producer body, which had already spent several weeks criticising the retailer for stocking imported eggs on welfare grounds, has used the recall to press its case.Lidl France pulled Polish shell eggs from sale across the country on 21 July after Salmonella Enteritidis was detected. Two days later the Confédération française de l'aviculture attacked the retailer's decision to stock imported eggs at all.The withdrawal covered two formats, 20-egg and 30-egg trays, sold across Lidl's French network of around 1,600 stores. It applied to every lot number and every minimum durability date rather than an identified batch, which several French outlets described as exceptional in scope. Neither Lidl nor the French authorities have published the volume of eggs involved, and no illness has been linked to the recalled trays.RappelConso told consumers not to eat the eggs, even cooked, and to return them to store for a refund or destroy them, with heightened vigilance urged for young children, pregnant women, older people and the immunocompromised. Symptoms of salmonellosis appear between six and 72 hours after ingestion, and include diarrhoea, vomiting and fever.The CFA said Lidl's decision showed insufficient confidence in French producers, who it argued were capable of meeting consumer expectations on quality, safety and availability. Lidl's reasoning was, in the CFA's word, "incomprehensible", and the consequence was to put consumer health at risk. France, it added, operates one of the most demanding salmonella surveillance regimes in Europe.The organisation called on retailers to keep prioritising domestic supply and on consumers to look for the Œufs de France label. It also pointed to volume: French output is set to rise 5% in 2026, which the CFA credited to producer investment under the interprofession's sector plan.French upstream interests had been criticising Lidl's Polish eggs for several weeks before the recall, on welfare rather than food safety grounds. The eggs do not come from in-ovo sexed flocks, and Poland, unlike France and Germany, has not moved to end the maceration of male chicks. The CFA's defence of French eggs rests on salmonella surveillance rather than welfare, and its objection to the Polish eggs on welfare rather than salmonella.Polish trays became a common sight in Lidl's French stores after the supply squeeze of 2025 and have been widely stocked for several months. Poland is now France's second largest supplier of shell eggs behind Spain, with shipments up 5% year on year in the first quarter on Itavi figures.The CNPO's first estimates put losses from the late-June heatwave at 500,000 to 700,000 laying hens, roughly 1% to 1.5% of the national flock across all production systems, with knock-on pressure expected on pullet supply. French consumption averaged 237 eggs a head in 2025 against 227 the year before, Itavi expects 269 by 2035, and imports rose 21% last year.A second incident, three weeks earlierFood Safety News reported on 7 July that Santé publique France had recorded 16 Salmonella Enteritidis cases — nine male, seven female, aged between one and 55 — with four people admitted to hospital. Fever and diarrhoea were the main symptoms.The Direction Générale de l'Alimentation traced the source through patient interviews, which linked the onset of symptoms to products containing raw egg, then established the origin from the code stamped on the shell. The eggs were white and had been sold through supermarkets. No recall followed: by the time the connection was made, the eggs had already been eaten. DGAL said it notified the Polish authorities.Neither French nor Polish authorities have published anything linking those cases to the Lidl recall, and DGAL's own account records that no product was withdrawn in the earlier incident. Santé publique France has not issued a revised case count.Checks of Polish-language media, the trade press, the Chief Veterinary Officer's communiqués, GIS public warnings and the National Chamber of Poultry and Feed Producers found no Polish response to either the recall or the CFA's criticism as of 28 July.SourcesFood Safety News — "French Salmonella outbreak linked to Polish eggs", Joe Whitworth, 7 July 2026Confédération française de l'aviculture — press statement, 23 July 2026
Les Marchés by Réussir — "Œufs polonais contaminés : Lidl suscite la colère de l'amont", Virginie Pinson, 23 July 2026
La France Agricole — "Contamination aux salmonelles : la CFA appelle à acheter des œufs français", 23 July 2026 (paywalled)
Allo Docteurs / Rappel Conso — recall details including packing centre marks and GTINs
Ma Santé — recall detail on the differing sales areas for the 20-egg and 30-egg notices
Connexion France — English-language report citing the RappelConso notice of 21 July 2026
Orange Actualités — recall report
Mediaterranée — source for the c.1,600 store figure
Les Marchés by Réussir — "Canicule : 500 à 700 000 poules pondeuses perdues", 3 July 2026
KIPDiP — "Francja chce zwiekszac produkcje jaj", 23 March 2026. French consumption and import figures sourced to Itavi