Poisoned eggs may have been coming to Britain for months, it has emerged, as the Netherlands was accused of keeping the scandal quiet.

It has emerged that the Dutch authorities knew about the scandal in November but did not inform the EU until nearly 8 months later on July 20.

Belgium also knew about the mass contamination in June but kept it secret for nearly two months because of a criminal investigation.

It comes after Asda, Morrisons, Sainsbury's and Waitrose were forced to urgently withdrew fresh salads, sandwiches and fillers from shelves, after it emerged they contained eggs implicated in the scandal. Around 700,000 potentially infected eggs have been distributed from the Netherlands to Britain, with the number expected to soar into the millions in the coming days.