Del.icio.us  Digg  facebook  MySpace  Twitter  Google  Bookmark Me  LinkedIn  StumbleUpon  Permalink

'Bad Egg' Controversy Was and Is Preventable

The Wright County Egg recall didn't happen until the U.S. Food and Drug Administration began receiving reports of people being sickened by Salmonella enteritidis. As of this week, more than 2,000 cases have been reported in more than a dozen states – not on the East Coast, though.

The egg contamination was largely a preventable situation with quality control programs more than 15 years in the making in Pennsylvania. The Pennsylvania Egg Quality Assurance Program is the model for a national program guarding against egg contamination that was put into place during July.

The bacterial can enter eggs via infected chickens. "If the federal regulations had been in place earlier, the current outbreak and egg recall may not have occurred," contends Penn State Poultry Scientist Paul Patterson. In 1992, the Keystone State was the first in the nation to institute steps to reduce risk of Salmonella e. with flock-testing and management programs.

Through third-party monitoring, PEQAP ensures that producers employ risk-reducing practices. "Preventive measures include placement of only Salmonella enteritidis-free chicks, intensive rodent control, cleaning and disinfecting of poultry houses between flocks, and environmental monitoring of pullet and layer houses -- with repeated testing of eggs from any houses that test positive," says Patterson.

Those measures, particularly rodent control, weren't being effectively used at Wright County Egg, according to industry reports. Yet, rodent control is a must, emphasizes Patterson.

Rodents bring Salmonella to chickens. "In the '90s, we found that rodents defecating in the feed troughs could pass Salmonella enteritidis on to the hens and eggs."

Third-party monitoring required

PEQAP requires third-party monitoring. "If a business isn't complying, they're brought before a board of advisors made up of industry and advisory personnel," says Patterson who serves on that board.

"They're given an opportunity to address and fix problems. If they don't, they can lose their certification. And clearly, more and more people, grocery chains, restaurants and food-service businesses are demanding certified eggs."

Poultry flocks from Delaware, Maryland, New Jersey and Pennsylvania are continuously monitored for disease with tests conducted by the Pennsylvania Animal Diagnostic Laboratory System, with facilities at Penn State, University of Pennsylvania and the Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture.

The diagnostic lab tests sick and dying birds, which helps head off the spread of potentially more dangerous strains of Salmonella as well. "This year, its Salmonella enteritidis making headlines," notes Patricia Dunn, senior veterinary researcher at the diagnostic lab. "Next year, it may be another strain. They evolve."

"What makes this hard is that this strain of Salmonella almost never makes birds sick," she adds. "So there's no outward clue that Salmonella is present in the birds or the eggs."

That's why the quality assurance program heavily relies on best management practices to minimize contamination risks. Those practices include building sanitation, rodent control, Samonella E-free pullet sources, microbiological testing and third-party compliance monitoring by the state ag department. Positive-testing eggs are diverted pasteurization or hard-cooked egg facilities.

In 2004, PEQAP was recognized by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The program forms the basis of the new Federal Egg Safety Program which began in July.

Chill 'em out?

U.S. dairy producers quickly adopted rapid-cooling technology to drop raw milk temperatures during milking. Kevin Keener, a Purdue University food scientist, believes the poultry industry should do the same to reduce future outbreaks.

Quick cooling after eggs are laid would significantly reduce Salmonella growth inside eggs, he claims, and could potentially keep consumers from getting sick. While there are no federal guidelines for how quickly eggs should be cooled, current industry procedures can take up to 142 hours (six days) to cool eggs in the middle of a stacked pallet inside a refrigerated cooler to 45 degrees Fahrenheit.

Keener has developed a rapid-cooling technology using cold carbon dioxide gas to chill down eggs in two to five minutes. He reports that FDA studies show that if eggs were cooled and stored at 45 degrees or less within 12 hours of laying, there'd be an estimated 78% fewer U.S. Salmonella illnesses from eggs each year.