FDA Inspections Ensures Compliance, Safe Eggs

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 In July 2010, shell egg producers with 50,000 or more laying hens became subject to the Food and Drug Associations (FDA)Egg Safety Rule, which requires producers to implement measures to reduce the chance of Salmonella Enteritidis (SE) contaminating eggs on the farm. As part of the Rule, egg producers are required to undergo inspections conducted by FDA investigators to make sure they are following all the required measures. The agency focused its initial inspections on farms that had been associated with previous recalls, outbreaks, or consumer complaints as well as those with poor compliance histories.

After the initial inspections were completed at the beginning of 2011, the agency turned its focus to the remaining 300+ farms. When conducting inspections, teams of FDA investigators have the option to collect microbiological samples of the environment as a way to assess if the farm is following the required measures. Of the 2,056 individual swabs collected during 2011, only 52 showed a positive for SE, meaning that ~2.5% of the environmental samples were positive.

Since the Rules implementation, FDA has conducted over 550 inspections. This number will continue to grow as the second set of producers (3,000-49,999 laying hens) comes under the Rule in July of this year. The very small percentage of SE positives found by FDA investigators demonstrates the hard work and dedication that egg producers are continuing to put into implementing the FDA Egg Safety Rule and other egg safety programs to ensure that consumers receive the safest, highest quality eggs possible.    

For more detailed information on inspections conducted under the Egg Safety Rule, please visit- http://www.fda.gov/Food/FoodSafety/Product-specificInformation/EggSafety/ucm280220.htm.

Krista Eberle
Director of Food Safety Programs
United Egg Producers
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New Year’s Resolutions Need Proper Handling

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On January 1^st of every year, people across the nation make New Year’s resolutions to start eating better and exercising more. Eggs are all‐natural, low calorie, and full of vitamins and minerals. The nutrients in eggs can play a role in weight management and muscle strength, which makes it a great food to eat for breakfast or after a hard workout. One of the most popular ways to fix eggs by hard-boiling them (The recipe can be found below, thanks to the American Egg Board). Hard-boiled eggs are easy to transport and can be easily grabbed out of the refrigerator for a quick, healthy snack. One of the most popular questions asked is, “How long can I keep boiled eggs in the refrigerator before they are unsafe to eat?” When hard boiling eggs, the protective layer put on right before the hen lays it, called the cuticle, is removed, making it easier for bacteria to get in the egg through the thousands of tiny pores on the egg shell while they sit in the refrigerator. Shortly after cooking, hard-boiled eggs should be refrigerated in their shells and used within 1 week.

Basic Hard Boiled Eggs

• Place eggs in saucepan large enough to hold them in single layer. Add cold water to cover eggs by 1 inch. Heat over high heat just to boiling. Remove from burner. Cover pan.
• Let eggs stand in hot water about 12 minutes for large eggs (9 minutes for medium eggs; 15 minutes for extra large).
• Drain immediately and serve warm or cool completely under cold running water or in bowl of ice water, then refrigerate.

Krista Eberle
Director of Food Safety Programs
United Egg Producers
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Use Egg Product Safety to Cut Your Risk for Foodborne Illness

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Food safety can present a challenge during the holiday season as it’s probably not the first thing you think about when making holiday goodies. In order to protect you and your guests from food-borne illnesses, it is important to follow certain safety measures when cooking with eggs, including preventing cross contamination and consuming raw or undercooked dishes that contain eggs.

One way to cook safely with eggs is by using egg products. The term “egg products” refers to eggs that have been pasteurized, or exposed to elevated temperatures for a period of time sufficient to destroy certain microorganisms. Egg products can come in many forms including liquid and dried whole eggs, egg whites, and egg yolks. The most common form of egg products you may see in your grocery store are liquid egg whites, typically found in the refrigerated section next to all the cartoned eggs. Egg products are mostly used in baking and cooking where there is a chance that the product is not heated up high enough to completely destroy any food-borne microorganisms, like Salmonella Enteritidis. Some common holiday entrées that you could use egg products include casseroles, soufflés, deviled eggs, cookies, meringues and puddings.

When cooking this holiday season, it is always important to remember that the internal temperature of any product you cook this holiday season reaches 160°F. The Egg Safety Center and USDA does not recommend eating raw shell eggs that are not cooked or undercooked due to the possibility that Salmonella bacteria may be present. So if you plan on sneaking a few spoonfuls of that wonderful chocolate chip cookie dough while baking this holiday season, it may be wise to use egg products instead of raw eggs to avoid contracting a food-borne illness.

 
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Anniversary of the National Egg Recall Reminds Egg Producers of the Importance of Food Safety Practices

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This time last year the egg industry announced the voluntary recall of 550 million eggs that were distributed throughout 22 different states and Mexico. The recall was issued after epidemiologic investigations conducted by public health officials in California, Colorado, and Minnesota revealed several restaurants and events where more than one person fell ill with Salmonella Enteriditis. The information collected from these investigations suggested that shell eggs were the likely source of human illness.

Ever since the early 1990’s, egg producers have worked closely with federal and state agricultural officials as well as poultry scientists in academia and industry, veterinarians, and other industry experts to create and improve methods for the reduction of Salmonella Enteritidis (SE) in the laying hen population. Over the past 20 years, states, industry trade groups, private companies and government entities have developed egg safety and quality assurance programs focused on measuring SE prevalence and designing SE prevention and control measures for all different types of egg operations across the United States. The recall of last year demonstrated that there were some gaps in the industry’s SE prevention measures that needed to be filled.

Since August 2010, egg producers have worked hand-in-hand with FDA and USDA to ensure compliance with new government egg safety regulations and within their own companies to further improve egg safety from the farm to the processing plant. The hard-work and dedication that goes into implementing egg safety programs demonstrates how serious egg producers take food safety and ensuring that consumers receive the safest, highest quality product possible.   

Krista Eberle
Director of Food Safety Programs
United Egg Producers

 
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