Tag Archives: Egg

Nuevo Folleto Informativo: Facturas rellenas con crema pastelera causan al menos 73 enfermedades; 30 hospitalizaciones

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Traducido por Gonzalo Erdozain

Resumen del folleto informativo mas reciente:

– Debido a que los huevos crudos pueden contener Salmonella, use huevos pasteurizados cuando vaya a cocinar algo que requiera huevos crudos.
– Limpie y desinfecte los utensilios entre uso para prevenir la contaminación cruzada.
– Sepa que productos contienen huevos crudos y manténgalos refrigerados para prevenir el crecimiento de Salmonella.

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.
 

Dirty egg-sucking dog: illegal eggs flood Toronto

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Tens of thousands of illegal eggs — some covered in fecal matter and feathers — have emerged in a crackdown on Toronto-area food retailers and wholesalers, prompting public health concerns and pending charges against nine companies so far.

Rob Cribb of the Toronto Star revisits the food beat to report that at least six food establishments have charges pending:

• Sharable Bakery, 240 Alton Towers Circle.
• Greystone Bakery, 6 Greystone Walk Dr.
• Farm Fresh Supermarket, 4466 Sheppard Ave. E.
• Casa Imperial Fine Chinese Cuisine, 4125 Steeles Ave E.
• ABC Bakery, 3618 Victoria Park Ave.
• Besmeats Wholesale Ltd., a food distributor at 110 Bynamic Dr.

“The person who gave me eggs did not write ‘ungraded eggs’ on the box. We are innocent,” said Besmeats manager Jesslyn Tio.

“It’s not easy to get egg dealers in town. Those people just knocked on my door. I don’t know them. I don’t want ungraded eggs to be on the market. I eat the eggs too.”

Tio said she can now see a clear difference between inspected eggs and what she’s been supplying her clients, mainly bakeries.

Inspectors believe at least some of the eggs came from a distribution warehouse in Scarborough under investigation.

The unnamed facility was filled with more than 100,000 ungraded eggs when inspectors visited last Friday, said Toronto Public Health food safety manager Jim Chan. They were seized and destroyed, he said.

“Some of the eggs still have fecal matter on the egg shells, quite a bit of dirt and even feathers inside the boxes which are all indications of ungraded eggs,” said Chan.

“We brought CFIA (the Canadian Food Inspection Agency) in and they confirmed they were ungraded eggs.”

All eggs sold beyond farm gates in Ontario must be graded at federally licensed facilities. The process is designed to ensure eggs are properly washed and free of hairline cracks — often invisible to the eye — that open up the potential for salmonella and other pathogens to enter.

Rodger Dunlop, manager of regulatory compliance with the provincial agriculture ministry, would offer no comment on the investigation, saying only that it is ongoing.

Way to be forthcoming, Ontario Ministry of Agriculture and Food.

B.C. health officials have traced an outbreak of about 650 salmonella cases over the past three years — a 300 per cent increase since 2007 — to egg consumption including ungraded eggs.

Statistics Canada figures show about 380,000 dozen eggs produced in Ontario each month are “leakers and rejects.” But the agency does not track how many eggs unfit for human consumption end up in the underground marketplace.

Those facing charges this week would say little about their eggs.
 

Seek and ye shall find; FDA finds problems at egg farms

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The U.S. Food and Drug Administration is finding problems at egg farms beyond the Iowa operations linked to last summer’s salmonella outbreak. The agency inspected 35 farms from September to December and released a report today on its findings.

Those 35 farms, located in Ohio, Maine, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Utah and Washington, were picked for inspection because they had been associated with pervious outbreaks or had a history of poor compliance. Nine separate companies operate the 35 farms. The names were not released.

Twelve of the farms needed to take action to fix problems. Eleven others did not. Evaluations of the remaining 12 farms are still pending, mostly in Washington state.

Most of the problems cited by the agency involve inadequate record keeping.

Farms are required to document compliance a variety of issues, including rodent monitoring and compliance with biosecurity measures.
 

But celebrities have tea here: Victorian-style cafe fined over salmonella

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I don’t care about personal or business fetishes – go ahead and wear that Victorian garb – but if you’re going to make chocolate mousse cake and serve it to a bunch of people, use pasteurized instead of raw eggs.

A U.K. court heard that 10 customers and staff were stricken with salmonella after eating a chocolate mousse cake made with raw egg at Badgers’ cafe, Llandudno, in Sept, 2009. Badgers was fined £8,015, which will cut into the Victorian-era outfits worn by staff.

Badgers cafe admitted selling the cake when unfit for human consumption and apologised to those affected; the company also pleaded guilty to two breaches of food hygiene regulations a year later.

But not until Rhian Gilligan made the best food safety legal defense ever: the cafe had attracted high-profile politicians and celebrities and was visited by many holidaymakers during the summer.

In a statement after the case the Badgers company said it would like to apologize "unreservedly to those affected.

"Badgers has always sought to achieve the highest standards in food hygiene and customer service and continues to do so.”

More focus on food safety, less on the costumes.

Raw egg facials may be a bad idea

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bites-l newsie Gonzalo Erdozain writes his wife recently applied a raw egg facial mask.

He’s worried about salmonella, she wants to tighten her pores.

According to a quick web search, egg white apparently draws the oils out, while the egg yolk moisturizes. Another says raw eggs are an excellent enhancement for a person’s hair care regimen. Among the recommendations:

“To use raw eggs as part of your facial care regimen, crack two eggs into a bowl. Mix the whites of the eggs and the yolks of the eggs together. Apply the raw egg mixture to your face. When you use raw eggs as part of your facial regimen, you don’t have to worry with avoiding the eyes. Massage the egg mixture into the face. Let it set for five to ten minutes. Rinse away with a soft washcloth and warm water. … Look for the best natural skin care in your grocer’s dairy section.”

This is a bad idea. Eggs are for cooking and eating, not facials.
 

Farms closed, 8,000 layers slaughtered in Germany over heightened dioxin levels in eggs

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The discovery of animal feed laced with dioxin has forced the closure of countless farms and the slaughter of at least 8,000 egg-laying chickens, as German officials on Monday reacted to a widening agriculture scandal.

The state of Lower Saxony said it would temporarily quarantine 1,000 farms with egg hens, pigs and turkeys until the Agricultural Ministry could ensure their products were safe for consumption.

Gert Hahne, a ministry spokesman in Hannover, said

“We’re shutting everything down first. Consumer protection takes priority.”

The toxic substance, first found last month, is thought to have made its way to Germany’s farms via feed contaminated by a fatty acids mixture from a Dutch distributor.

The animals in the county of Soest will be burned, according to local veterinarian Wilfriend Hopp. He estimated 120,000 eggs contaminated with dioxin had already been sold to the public.

“We’re getting several thousand back from retailers,” he said.

North German animal feed manufacturer Harles & Jentzsch said a Dutch supplier had delivered contaminated fat, which in turn had emanated from a bio-diesel plant run by Petrotech AG in Germany.

Petrotech AG produce the plant-based fatty acid as a by-product in the manufacture of bio-diesel from palm, soya and rapeseed oil. The corporation refused to comment.

Last year, we published case studies examining two incidents of dioxin contamination of food in Belgium and the Republic of Ireland in 1999 and 2008, respectively. In both cases, dioxins reached the food supply through the contamination of fat used for animal feed. The food and agricultural industries connected to each incident relied on crisis management activities of federal governments to limit adverse public reaction.

In 1999, the Belgian government delayed communicating with the public and other European agencies about possible risks, failed to acknowledge perceived risks with dioxin-laden feed, and ultimately suffered huge economic losses, a damaged food industry and deterioration in public confidence.

In the winter of 2008, the Republic of Ireland faced a similar dioxin-in-animal-feed crisis and, unlike the Belgian response, promptly communicated with the public, and acknowledged perceived risks by mandating that all pork products released for sale were to carry a special label to indicate they had no association with the potentially contaminated feed.

“Prompt communications with the public, acknowledgement of both real and perceived risks, and control of stigma surrounding a hazardous incident are important factors in effective crisis management,” said me. “The Irish government succeeded by not only saying the right things, but by removing potentially contaminated product from commerce in a timely manner. Actions and words must be consistent to manage any crisis and garner public support.”

Government management of two media-facilitated crises involving dioxin contamination of food

?Public Understanding of Science?

Casey J. Jacob, Corie Lok, Katija Morley, and Douglas A. Powell
?http://pus.sagepub.com/cgi/content/abstract/0963662509355737v1?
Abstract
Incidents become crises through a constant and intense public scrutiny facilitated by the media. Two incidents involving dioxin contamination of food led to crises in Belgium and the Republic of Ireland in 1999 and 2008, respectively. Thought to cause cancer in humans, dioxins reached the food supply in both incidents through the contamination of fat used for animal feed. The food and agricultural industries connected to each incident relied on crisis management activities of federal governments to limit adverse public reaction. Analysis of the management of the two crises by their respective federal governments, and a subsequent review of crisis management literature, led to the development of an effective crisis management model. Such a model, appropriately employed, may insulate industries associated with a crisis against damaged reputations and financial loss.?First published on February 5, 2010?Public Understanding of Science 2010
 

UK prisoners suing over salmonella; same place Julian Assange is visiting

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The Brits do have a way with words. From today’s issue of The Sun:

Rapists, paedophiles, a killer and drug-dealers may pocket £300,000 after prison sarnies gave them food poisoning.

A group of 164 inmates were all poleaxed after eating egg and cress rolls infected with salmonella.

Their lawyers have filed a High Court claim demanding £1,800 compensation for each convict for "pain, suffering and loss of amenity".

They are almost certain to get some money because the Ministry of Justice has admitted kitchen staff at South London’s Wandsworth Prison failed to cook the eggs properly.

A Whitehall source said: "There is no doubt that compensation will be paid, but the amount of money the prisoners are after will be contested vigorously. There will be very little public sympathy for this."

And now, a message from Julian Assange:

Why doesn’t Hiliandale brag about its egg food safety accomplishments

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Hillandale Farms, one of the Iowa culprits in the over-1800-sick-with-salmonella-and-500-million-egg recall, was cleared to start selling eggs again last month, but why would anyone knowingly buy them?

They wouldn’t know because of the Ponzi scheme of renaming food commodities for marketing, and the lack of food safety marketing at retail.
Besides, everyone has gone back to sleep.

Maybe an intrepid journalist can ask Hillandale about their most recent salmonella test results since I’m sure the company is eager to rebuild public trust.

Other jurisdictions aren’t waiting.

State Veterinarian Don Hoenig told Maine lawmakers yesterday the state’s comprehensive program to prevent salmonella contamination at egg farms has paid off.

"The result of it is, we have not had a positive building in over a year. We’ve achieved a measure of success, we’re cautiously optimistic that we’re on the right track–I don’t know for sure that we are–but the vaccination seems to have been a key component of the control program."

Hoenig says after the salmonella outbreak in Iowa this summer, he found himself answering more and more questions from national reporters about Maine’s egg inspection program. He told members of the Legislature’s Agriculture Committee that’s when he realized just how good Maine’s program is.

Klaus Torborg, of Lohmann Animal Health, has warned UK producers not to become complacent about controlling salmonella.

The UK has the lowest levels of salmonella in laying hens of any major egg-producing country, but he says that sustaining this relies on vaccination, hygiene, pest control and the disinfection of vehicles, water and buildings.

New egg safety plans unveiled by industry and government

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Philip Brasher of the Des Moines Register reports exclusively this morning that egg producers and government regulators are separately taking steps to improve egg safety in the wake of a nationwide salmonella outbreak that was tied to farms in Iowa.

Producers "want nothing else to happen like what happened in Iowa," said Howard Magwire, vice president of government relations for the United Egg Producers. The trade group is developing safety standards for the industry that would go beyond federal regulations.

Good. Because government sets minimal standards that repeatedly cannot even catch the food safety outliers. Consumers, the ones who buy eggs, and producers, the ones who sell eggs and all suffer during an outbreak, deserve better, and the best way to do that is take charge and stop waiting for Godot or government.

The United Egg Producers is developing industry standards that will mirror the agency’s production rules and go a step further by requiring participating producers to vaccinate all hens against salmonella. Because of contamination that the food agency found in feed at one of the Iowa operations, the producers’ group also is considering writing sanitation standards for feed mills, Magwire said.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has announced plans to inspect every major farm in the nation, starting with operations that have had past trouble with government officials, and it is working on coordinating oversight with the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Sixteen inspections had been carried out by midmonth. The agency expects to conduct about 600 inspections in the next 14 months.

Meanwhile, the USDA and FDA have given themselves until Nov. 30 to come up with a plan for training employees to spot food-safety problems, according to a Sept. 15 letter. "It is imperative that field employees are properly educated as to these responsibilities," Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack wrote in the letter. Vilsack told The Des Moines Register that the food agency will train USDA egg inspectors to spot problems on egg farms.

About time.
 

Big egg farms don’t mean dirty egg farms, N.Y. Times version

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A salmonella outbreak that sickened thousands and led to the recall of 500 million eggs produced under filthy conditions by two Iowa farms led Elizabeth Weise of USA Today to report on an Illinois farm that produces over 800,000 eggs per day yet has never found a salmonella-positive test result.

This morning, N.Y. Times reporter William Neuman examines the conditions at Hi-Grade Egg Farm in Indiana and finds that safe eggs can be produced on a large scale.

“(The) droppings from 381,000 chickens are carried off along a zig-zagging system of stacked conveyor belts with powerful fans blowing across them.

"The excrement takes three days to travel more than a mile back and forth, and when it is finally deposited on a gray, 20-foot high mountain of manure, it has been thoroughly dried out, making it of little interest to the flies and rodents that can spread diseases like salmonella poisoning.

“Standing by the manure pile on a recent afternoon, Robert L. Krouse, the president of Midwest Poultry Services, the company that owns the Hi-Grade farm, took a deep breath. The droppings, he declared, smelled sweet, like chocolate"

Mr. Krouse, who is also chairman of the United Egg Producers, an industry association, said

“We’ve had to completely change the way we look at things. Thirty years ago, farms had flies and farms had mice, everything was exposed to everything else. They just all happily lived together. You can’t work that way anymore"

Today the hens on Mr. Krouse’s farms come from hatcheries certified to provide chicks free of salmonella. The young birds are vaccinated to create resistance to the bacteria. And then steps are taken to keep them from being exposed to it, primarily by controlling mice and flies that may carry salmonella or spread it around.

Big ag doesn’t mean bad ag. Organic or conventional, local or global, big or small, there are good farmers and bad farmers. The good ones know all about food safety and continuously work to minimize levels of risk.

Unfortunately, consumers have no way of knowing which eggs or foods were produced by microbiologically prudent farmers and which were produced on dumps. Market microbial food safety at retail so consumers can actually use their buying power and choose safer food.