How does salmonella get in eggs?
The big egg recall originating with eggs packaged in Iowa has many people talking and checking their refrigerators this week, and you can never be too safe when dealing with salmonella and other bacteria, but the truth is the risk of salmonella in eggs has actually decreased in the past 10 – 20 years thanks to increased quality control, food safety, refrigeration standards, etc.1
What many people want to know but are afraid to ask is how does the salmonella get into the eggs? We all know the working environment on farms is a “natural” one, but many of us choose to block all that out when we eat our grilled chicken or steak, magically produced from the meat fairy. In reality, it’s a real, raw process, and in the case of salmonella in eggs, here is the likely scenario according to USA Today’s Q&A:
“Salmonella exists in rodents and some insects, which can carry the bacteria into poultry houses, infecting flocks. Once a hen is infected, she can infect her eggs in one of two ways:
The hen’s stool is contaminated with salmonella, and when she lays her eggs stool can get on the eggs, contaminating their exterior. This is why eggs are always washed.
However, with salmonella enteritidis, the infection can actually enter the hen’s ovary, according to Christopher Braden an epidemiologist with the CDC. The egg yolk and white are infected before the shell is even formed, so the infection is on the inside and cannot be washed away.”2
Sooo… you might want to make this subject an after dinner topic, rather than the typical dinner topic we try to provide. Your company will thank you for holding off on the information until after the food has been cleaned up.
Read on:
FDA.gov – official recall information including egg brand names and packaging dates
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