It is estimated that at this stage the number of eggs being recalled due to a significant Salmonella enteritidis outbreak is nearing 230 million.

This type of Salmonella can grow inside the eggs and can cause food poisoning if the eggs are not cooked to a minimum of 65C.

S.enteritidis can cause fever, abdominal cramps and diarrhoea and usually lasts up to seven days.

In the US, it typically causes 50 cases a week according to the Center for Disease Control(CDC). When 200 cases weekly started appearing in June, It became clear that there was a serious problem occurring.

After a thorough investigation, it was found that the eggs are coming from a business in Iowa and is related to 13 separate brand names distributed across the country.

The recall was started on 13 August and is one of the largest in US history.

The CDC believes that for each laboratory confirmed case of S.enteritidis there are up to 30 cases not reported. So with 200 reported cases now occurring weekly, this outbreak has the potential to be affecting thousands of people.

 "This certainly has the potential to be a very large outbreak both given the apparent number of reported cases so far and also the fact that many of these eggs may still be in consumer refrigerators," says Caroline Smith DeWaal, the Food Safety Director of the Center for Science in the Public Interest.