Tag Archives: Egg

Nuevo Folleto Informativo: riesgos alimentarios durante las pascuas

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Traducido por Gonzalo Erdozain

Resumen del folleto informativo mas reciente:

– El lavado de manos luego de tocar animalitos (incluyendo aquellos adorables), reduce el riesgo de enfermedad. Los niños pueden enfermar luego de tocar dichos animales y ponerse las manos en la boca o tocar alimentos.
– Los huevos pueden portar Salmonella y deben ser cocidos a 145°F por 15 segundos para reducir el riesgo, o hasta que la yema se endurezca.
– Huevos crudos, intactos, deben ser almacenados a temperaturas iguales, o menores a 45°F.
– En recetas que requieran huevos crudos, use huevos pasteurizados en su lugar, para reducir el riesgo.

Los folletos informativos son creados semanalmente y puestos en restaurantes, tiendas y granjas, y son usados para entrenar y educar a través del mundo. Si usted quiere proponer un tema o mandar fotos para los folletos, contacte a Ben Chapman a benjamin_chapman@ncsu.edu.

Puede seguir las historias de los folletos informativos y barfblog en twitter
@benjaminchapman y @barfblog.

Eggs in Toronto: When local goes public and health types step in

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Alysa Golden didn’t want to become an egg mogul. She just wanted a good egg – farm fresh, free from hormones, laid by chickens raised in a cruelty free environment.

Her quest for the perfect egg led her to a Mennonite community in Southwestern Ontario. The farm delivered them to her front door.

"The eggs were wonderful, full and thick and rich," says Golden. Two months ago Golden started ordering eggs for her east end Toronto neighbours. She leaves the eggs on her porch and her neighbours pick them up, cross their name off a clipboard and stuff a cheque in a box.

It’s based on an honor system. And she hasn’t lost a dime.

According to the Toronto Star, Golden’s venture spoke to the untapped need of many consumers to get back to basics and to understand where their food is from at the most elemental level.

The locavore movement is not new, of course. Buying food from nearby farms makes sense, both from a health and carbon footprint standpoint, although Toronto Public Health warns consumers against purchasing eggs outside normal channels.

Many high-end restaurants exploit the farm fresh movement in their marketing. But this wasn’t about eating a fancy dinner. It was about city parents, tired of stuffing processed food into their kids, wanting to introduce their children to a "real" egg, says Golden.

Buoyed by her success, Golden started distributing eggs from her company, which she called Eggy Weggs. The other "depots" included a couple of health food stores in Toronto and most recently the popular Lazy Daisy Café in the Leslieville neighbourhood.

Chapman doesn’t make a profit off the sales. Her café is simply a pick up station. And like Golden’s home, the honor system is in effect, with egg buyers picking up their trays and crossing their name off the clipboard.

The eggs cost $6.50 per dozen, which is about a buck and a half below what comparable products might sell for, says Golden.

But Jim Chan, manager of healthy environments for Toronto Public Health, says shoppers should ask if the eggs have been graded and are legal. "Just because it says farm fresh, that’s not good enough. Everything’s farm fresh, it’s not like the guy got them out of his basement," says Chan.

Chan’s staff cracked down on egg vendors in February and March. Six vendors were notified they will be charged for having ungraded eggs. By law, eggs must be sorted, washed, and inspected to be free of leaks and cracks. Only Canada Grade A eggs are allowed for human consumption.

"If there is a hairline crack you could get salmonella or bacteria inside the shell which can lead to real health problems," says Chan.

Last February, Toronto Public Health charged six other vendors. Farm Fresh Supermarket at Sheppard Ave. E was fined $10,000 on egg-related charges.

Golden says her eggs are from farms that have their produce graded at the Green Meadow Eggs grading station in Southwestern Ontario.

An official from the Canadian Food Inspection Agency contacted by the Star said Green Meadows is a certified grader.

Piping hot not; UK thermometers’ maker see sales soar after 1988 salmonella scandal

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Irony can be pretty ironic sometimes. Even ironical.

In Dec. 1988, then junior minister UK Health Minister told a television reporter the majority of UK eggs were contaminated with salmonella. A lawsuit by UK egg producers led to Curie’s resignation and millions worth of compensation for egg producers.

For Peter Webb it was gold.

ETI – Electronic Temperature Instruments – was founded in Worthing, West Sussex, in 1983. The company makes digital and infrared thermometers, as well as pressure meters and other related instruments.

It supplies the catering industry and supermarkets, including Waitrose, for use on their hot-food counters. Other clients are pharmaceutical firms and hospitals, which need to keep drugs or blood at a certain temperature.

This is Money reports that when Currie made her comments in 1988, the firm saw turnover soar ‘virtually overnight’ from £1million to £3million. It now stands at more than £7million.

ETI is the biggest maker of digital thermometers in the country making 3,500 a week. Peter, 57, employs 120 staff and the firm makes 80 per cent of its products in Britain. The business continues to thrive despite the downturn.

And despite consumer recommendations to just cook things until they are piping hot. Good thing ETI targeted food service.

Calgary’s egg man off to jail for contempt of court

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An Alberta farmer will serve 37 days in jail for contempt of court after he refused to stop selling filthy, low-grade eggs on Calgary street corners despite repeatedly being ordered to stop.

Elmar Augart, 75, has already paid $14,000 in fines and served two weeks in jail for ignoring a decade’s worth of orders from the courts and health inspectors that he stop selling eggs without a permit.

“What will it take to finally get Mr. Augart to obey health and safety legislation, or court orders?” Rob O’Neill, a prosecutor for Alberta Health Services, asked court. “It’s clear he needs to go back to jail for a longer time to get the message across.”

Court of Queen’s Bench Justice Stephen Hillier did not hesitate to agree to a jail sentence.

“It is clear that prior penalties have not engaged the attention of Mr. Augart,” Hillier said.

Augart’s trouble with illegal eggs began in September 2002 when he was convicted of selling them without a permit. That was followed by a second conviction in March 2003. He paid a total of $14,000 in fines.

Then in August 2003, Augart was caught selling eggs out of cardboard boxes on a street corner in Calgary’s Chinatown. He used no refrigeration and the eggs he sold were reaching 31 C while waiting to be sold. In that incident, health officials seized and destroyed 2,000 eggs.

O’Neill said that the eggs Augart sold were discoloured, misshapen and covered with feathers and bird feces. They were low-grade eggs rejected from other sources and sold as “farm-fresh” by Augart.

In November 2010, he was again caught selling eggs in Calgary’s Chinatown. He was also found to be selling eggs to restaurants, cafes and catering companies.

Augart’s eggs were linked to a salmonella outbreak in Calgary in late 2010. More than 4,000 eggs were seized from four catering companies and traced back to him.

He was caught twice more, in December 2010 and March 2011. His truck was seized and impounded. Augart was asked where the eggs came from and where he planned to deliver them.

In a recent affidavit to court, Augart tried to explain himself.

“I estimate I’ve broken even selling eggs,” he wrote. “I have continued for pleasure because I have sold eggs in and around Calgary since 1957.”

Class action filed against Australian bakery that sickened 22 with salmonella; ‘I won’t use commercial mayo, it’s foul’

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Maybe a legal jolt will prod Australians out of food safety complacency, but that’s especially challenging in a politico town like the national capital, Canberra.

ABC News reports 10 people are taking legal action against a Canberra bakery after allegedly contracting food poisoning.

Silo Bakery at Kingston was forced to shut for three days in December after ACT Health detected salmonella in mayonnaise used in a chicken roll.

It is believed raw egg in the mayonnaise was to blame for the salmonella outbreak which allegedly affected more than a dozen people.

Gerard Rees from Slater and Gordon in Canberra says some of those who were affected are seeking compensation for pain and suffering induced by the allegedly spoiled sandwiches.

"For five or six of the individuals I understand it ended up in hospital and a couple for relatively lengthy periods of time, weeks rather than days. So obviously people who were seriously affected would be entitled to far greater compensation for general damages or pain and suffering. Those who were off work as a result would be entitled to receive compensation for the time off that they had and if they had medical expenses they’re entitled to compensation for the medical expenses they’re paid as a direct result of the poisoning.

"What’ll happen is we’re investigating a claim in negligence. The claim will allege that Silo bakery was negligent in the way it stored and prepared the food. There is an ACT Health investigation underway as well that is looking into this. What we will do is look at each case individually."

At least 22 people were sickened with salmonella in Dec. at the Canberra bakery. In the aftermath of the outbreak, Silo co-owner Leanne Gray said officials have advised buying commercial mayonnaise or using pasteurized eggs. Her response: “That’s the foulest thing you’ve ever seen, so I said no, I won’t.”

A table of raw-egg related outbreaks in Australia is available at http://bites.ksu.edu/raw-egg-related-outbreaks-australia.

It was raw eggs in homemade tiramisu; 8 sick with salmonella in France 2009

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In May 2009, diarrhea and fever developed in 8 persons living in southwestern France one day after they ate a homemade tiramisu prepared with raw eggs. Fecal analysis was performed on samples from 5 of the 8 persons. French investigators also cultured a sample from the tiramisu. In medical laboratories, the isolation was performed by using standard procedures (i.e., use of conventional selective media). Isolation from the food sample was performed as required by the current International Organization for Standardization ISO 6579:2002 (i.e., by 2 selective enrichment media). All cultures yielded S. enterica subsp. enterica 4,5,12:–:–.

An investigation at the suspected layer farm was conducted and showed the presence of 11 nonmotile Salmonella spp. isolates (with the same antigenic formula) in dust and feces collected from laying-hen houses. The layer farm, located in northwestern France, is a major farm that produces >32,000,000 eggs per year. All 17 isolates (5 from humans, 1 from the tiramisu, and 11 from the laying hens) were pan-susceptible to all antimicrobial drugs tested.

The authors conclude in Emerging Infectious Diseases that the nonmotile S. enterica 4,5,12:–:– strain involved in this outbreak has been present in laying hens in France for the past decade. Despite continuous advances in food safety and disease surveillance, control, and prevention, atypical pathogenic Salmonella spp. strains that bypass existing procedures do emerge. Foodborne bacterial infections remain a major public health concern.

This food poisoning outbreak also highlighted the need for a second selective enrichment media for Salmonella spp. detection not based on the motility in complement to the modified semisolid Rappaport-Vassiladis medium recommended as a single medium by the European Directive.

Complete paper available at http://wwwnc.cdc.gov/eid/article/18/1/11-0450_article.htm.

At least 6 sick; salmonella linked to organic eggs
 in Minnesota

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The Minnesota Department of Agriculture (MDA) and the Minnesota Department of Health (MDH) are investigating illnesses in at least six people in Minnesota that are connected with a recall of organic shell eggs due to contamination with Salmonella Enteritidis. The contaminated eggs were traced back by the MDA to Larry Schultz Organic Farm of Owatonna, where environmental testing confirmed the presence of Salmonella Enteritidis. Larry Schultz Organic Farm is cooperating with the MDA investigation and has issued a voluntary recall of the products.

Routine reportable disease monitoring by state health officials identified six cases of Salmonella Enteritidis infection with the same DNA fingerprint. The individuals became ill between August 12 and September 24. The illnesses occurred in both children and adults, and all are residents of the seven-county metropolitan area. Three of the cases were hospitalized but have since recovered. Five of the six cases have reported eating eggs from the Larry Schultz Organic Farm purchased at grocery stores or co-ops.

Eggs affected by this recall were distributed to restaurants, grocery stores, food wholesalers and foodservice companies in Minnesota, Wisconsin and Michigan.

Eggs from Larry Schultz Organic Farm are packaged under the following brand names: Lunds & Byerlys Organic, Kowalski’s Organic, and Larry Schultz Organic Farm. Eggs are packed in bulk and varying sizes of cartons (6-egg cartons, dozen egg cartons, 18-egg cartons). Full product descriptions and a list of grocery stores where these products were sold can be found at www.mda.state.mn.us. Cartons bearing Plant Number 0630 or a “Sell by” date are not included in this recall.

Wal-Mart and Costco want nothing to do with DeCoster eggs (good); multi-million lawsuits between egg execs does nothing for sick people (bad)

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 Executives with the Iowa egg farms at the center of last year’s salmonella outbreak that sickened nearly 2,000 and led to the recall of 500 million eggs are locked in a legal battle.

Austin "Jack" DeCoster, the man who owns the egg farms, and his former right-hand man, John Glessner are bickering to the tune of $40 million in lawsuits.

In one lawsuit Glessner claims that the DeCoster family has mismanaged its Iowa egg production facilities and deprived him of more than $40 million, including more than $10 million in rent for use of his Hardin County facility, defaulted on bank loans, been "blackballed" by food vendors and been barred from bidding on contracts with retailers.

Clark Kauffman of The Des Moines Register writes in today’s USA Today that DeCoster’s Ohio Fresh Egg company is suing Glessner, accusing him of looting the company before he was fired this summer.

An executive with Hillandale Farms of Iowa, which was forced to recall 170 million eggs, sent an e-mail to Glessner in August 2010 saying DeCoster had become a liability to Hillandale.

"Unfortunately, Hillandale Farms can have absolutely no association with Jack, anywhere," wrote Orland Bethel, Hillandale’s founder. "We have been told by Costco and Wal-Mart that they will not be doing any business if Jack and his people have any involvement in management."

221 sick; salmonella in UK eggs linked to Spanish farm

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The U.K. Health Protection Agency reports a link has been established between a batch of imported eggs and an outbreak of Salmonella Enteritidis Phage Type (PT) 14b infection in England and Wales.

Two hundred and twenty-one cases of Salmonella Enteritidis PT 14b infection have been reported since the beginning of this year, the majority of cases being in North West England (104 cases), the West Midlands (36 cases) and the East Midlands (26 cases).

Dr. Joe Kearney, an HPA director who chairs the outbreak control team (OCT), said:

"A strain of Salmonella Enteritidis PT 14b that is indistinguishable from samples taken from the human cases was isolated from a small number of eggs that had the same batch number.

"These eggs had come from a specific shed on one farm in Spain. The Food Standards Agency (FSA) alerted the Spanish authorities and measures were taken to eliminate the risk of contamination from this source, including the culling of a flock of hens, the cleaning of the shed and the heat treatment of eggs to kill salmonella.

"No eggs with the implicated batch number have been imported to this country since the end of June. The FSA alerted Environmental Health Officers throughout England and Wales to the situation and checks were made and continue to be made on the distribution chain. Whenever eggs with the implicated batch number are found in the system, these are removed from sale. In the meantime our investigations are continuing."

Salmonella Jack gets out of egg business

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Jack DeCoster, the Iowa egg producer whose farms were involved in a salmonella outbreak last year that sickened almost 2,000 people and led to a recall of 500 million eggs, is maybe getting out of the egg biz.

The Des Moines Register reports two Iowa farm families will lease and manage the DeCoster egg operation for up to nine years with an option to purchase Ohio’s largest egg farm operation from DeCoster.

The Deans and Hennings will take over Ohio Fresh Eggs farms in Licking, Hardin and Wyandot counties. The Licking operations are expanding.

J.T. Dean of Sioux Center, Ia., said, "Jack DeCoster made the decision to exit the business and we were working with them on the Iowa production facilities, and we started discussing Ohio and fell in love with it.”

"This has all happened pretty quickly. I just see a lot of potential. (The facilities) just need to be managed properly. I think we need to be very honest and open."

"There’s not much I can do to change perception, other than be a good operator and let time heal those wounds.”