Announcement date
The Food Standards Australia New Zealand (FSANZ) Board approved Proposal P1060 – Egg food safety and Primary Production requirements on 17 September 2025 and on 14 November 2025 at the Food Ministers’ Meeting, Ministers agreed to not seek a review.
Link to announcement
The announcement can be found in the communiqué of outcomes from the Food Ministers’ Meeting held on 14 November 2025. The approval report and supporting document can be found on the FSANZ web page for Proposal P1060.
Problem being addressed
When Standard 4.2.5 – Primary Production and Processing Standard for Eggs and Egg Product was introduced in 2011, Salmonella Enteritidis (SE) capable of direct internal contamination of the egg contents (vertical transmission) was considered to be absent from the Australian egg laying flock. Because of this, controls to manage its unique risks were not included in the standard.
However, the prevalence of vertically transmittable SE in the Australian layer flock is no longer zero. This emergence has changed the food safety risk profile for Australian eggs. A FSANZ review of Standard 4.2.5 and the existing government and voluntary measures concluded that these measures are not adequately safeguarding public health and safety.
The spread of SE overseas has led to foodborne illness outbreaks and required the introduction of highly prescriptive and costly measures to protect public health and safety. Without interventions to sufficiently manage SE risks in eggs, it is possible that SE may spread in Australia in a similar way resulting in an increase in SE-related foodborne illness.
Proposal
The Decision Regulatory Impact Statement (RIS) considers 3 options to address the identified problem:
- Option 1 (Status quo): Maintain current primary production and processing requirements set out in Standard 4.2.5
- Option 2: (Preferred) Introduce a combination of regulatory and non-regulatory measures, including:
- environmental monitoring of poultry houses for the presence of SE
- strengthened traceability requirements
- temperature control during storage and transport of eggs and egg product
- Option 3: Introduce measures listed in option 2 and require mandatory refrigeration requirements for eggs throughout the supply chain.
The Decision RIS includes a break-even analysis which finds that Option 2 would need to achieve a 15 per cent reduction in egg-related Salmonella illnesses over 10 years to completely offset the costs, or a 10-12 per cent reduction if an increase in illness cases of 30-50 per cent is considered. Option 3 would need to achieve a 31 per cent reduction in egg‑related Salmonella illnesses over 10 years, or a 21-24 per cent reduction if an increase in illness cases is considered.
Option 2 has been identified as the preferred option based on the break-even analysis and because it is the option that best meets the policy objectives of protecting public health and safety and minimising foodborne illness.
Assessed Impact Analysis outcome
Compliant Decision RIS
The OIA considers that the consultation that has been undertaken to date is equivalent to a Consultation RIS under the Regulatory Impact Analysis Guide for Ministers Meetings and National Standard Setting Bodies, as such only a Decision RIS was required. FSANZ provided the OIA with a letter outlining how the consultation process was equivalent to a Consultation RIS.