228 million eggs recalled following salmonella outbreak

Keltin

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WASHINGTON – An Iowa egg producer is recalling 228 million eggs after being linked to an outbreak of salmonella poisoning.

The federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said eggs from Wright County Egg in Galt, Iowa, were linked to several illnesses in Colorado, California and Minnesota. The CDC said about 200 cases of the strain of salmonella linked to the eggs were reported weekly during June and July, four times the normal number of such occurrences.

State health officials say tainted eggs have sickened at least 266 Californians and seven in Minnesota.

The eggs were distributed around the country and packaged under the names Lucerne, Albertson, Mountain Dairy, Ralph's, Boomsma's, Sunshine, Hillandale, Trafficanda, Farm Fresh, Shoreland, Lund, Dutch Farms and Kemp.

The Food and Drug Administration is investigating.
In a statement, company officials said the FDA is "on-site to review records and inspect our barns." The officials said they began the recall Aug. 13.

The most common symptoms of salmonella are diarrhea, abdominal cramps and fever within eight hours to 72 hours of eating a contaminated product. It can be life-threatening, especially to those with weakened immune systems.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/us_tainted_eggs
 

rickismom

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Yes, they just added Washington yesterday too which explains why I got so sick after eating scrambled eggs for breakfast Wed morning!
 

Leni

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There is a way to pastuerize eggs at home.

Place the room temperature eggs in a colander, and lower them into a pan or bowl of 142-degree water. Use an instant-read thermometer to be sure of the water temperature, and leave the thermometer in the water, to be sure that the temoerature is maintained. For medium or large eggs, leave them in the water for 3 1/2 minutes; for extra large or jumbo eggs, allow 5 minutes. Then remove the eggs, dry them, and refrigerate them, in a tightly-covered container.

Eggs begin to cook at about 160 degrees, and will be "scrambled eggs" at 180 - but if the 142 degree temperature is maintained, the result is a safe egg that will act like a raw egg in recipes.

I don't know the proper way but this information is from Melinda Lee's website here in Los Angeles. She is on KNX 1070.
 

Keltin

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Nearly all eggs you buy in the store today are pasteurized. But say you get them fresh from the farm, why pasteurize eggs.....unless you are planning to use them raw (like in mayo). It's recommended to cook all poultry products to a temp of 165 which is the temp at which Salmonella is killed.

If you scramble or fry an egg, certainly the temp is above 165....unless it was still soft and runny? The whole egg is firmly set at 165, so if it is a bit loose, then I can see the danger.

But Vera and others have brought up other concerns that mere cooking temp doesn't account for such as bacterial load.
 

Keltin

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Keltin

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http://www.latimes.com/health/la-fi-eggs-qa-20100820,0,1419645.story

Can't I just cook the eggs to kill the bacteria?

Yes. "Eggs if fully cooked don't pose a threat. But the problem is a lot of people like to eat their eggs sunny side up or make hollandaise sauce," LeJeune said. "We want to reduce the threat as much as possible."

How can I be sure that cooked eggs are free of salmonella?

Both the egg white and egg yolk should be firm throughout and have no visible liquid remaining.

Are pasteurized eggs free from salmonella?

Pasteurized eggs are safe, LeJeune said. "I highly recommend pasteurized eggs for people at risk for severe illness from salmonella or for people who are healthy and choose to use raw eggs in ice cream or hollandaise sauce," he said. Liquid egg products sold in cartons are also pasteurized and free from salmonella.
 

Mama

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Nearly all eggs you buy in the store today are pasteurized. But say you get them fresh from the farm, why pasteurize eggs.....unless you are planning to use them raw (like in mayo). It's recommended to cook all poultry products to a temp of 165 which is the temp at which Salmonella is killed.

If you scramble or fry an egg, certainly the temp is above 165....unless it was still soft and runny? The whole egg is firmly set at 165, so if it is a bit loose, then I can see the danger.

But Vera and others have brought up other concerns that mere cooking temp doesn't account for such as bacterial load.

Wouldn't the salmonella be on both the inside and outside of the egg?

If that's the case, it only makes sense to me that unless you wash your hands after handling one of the eggs before you touch something else, you could end up contaminating whatever you touch. Am I wrong?
 

Keltin

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Wouldn't the salmonella be on both the inside and outside of the egg?

If that's the case, it only makes sense to me that unless you wash your hands after handling one of the eggs before you touch something else, you could end up contaminating whatever you touch. Am I wrong?


Don't know....but:

http://www.latimes.com/health/la-fi-eggs-qa-20100820,0,1419645.story

How do eggs become infected with salmonella?

Salmonella enteritidis can infect the ovaries of healthy-looking hens and contaminate the eggs before the shells are formed. External fecal contamination of eggshells from animals and birds is rare.
 

Mama

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But, if an egg or two gets broken in transit, they don't throw out the whole carton, they just take out the broken egg and replace it.
 

Keltin

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But, if an egg or two gets broken in transit, they don't throw out the whole carton, they just take out the broken egg and replace it.

And if a bull frog had wings he wouldn't bust his balls so much! :yum:

Just kidding!!! :kiss:

Yeah, that's a worse case scenario for sure. And honestly, I'd never think to pasteurize an egg that has already been pasteurized. Further, in your scenario, once you pick the egg up to pasteurize it, you're already contaminated, so you aren't defeating it are you?

The easiest fix is to simply wash your hands & equipment frequently, be conscious of cross contamination, and cook everything to proper temperature. Right? :confused: :dizzy:

I'm no food purist or scientist or as up to date on this as some like Waybomb or Vera, so I'm just kicking the can around. :biggrin:
 

Keltin

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But who wants to eat an overcooked egg?

Who wants salmonella? Pasteurization temp is in the low 140s, not enough to kill salmonella. So, it's a crap shoot. Take it as is in the carton and cook it the way you want, or cook the crap out of it.
 

buckytom

Grill Master
the other option is to eat contaminated eggs undercooked, and those that just get stomach aches and don't die will be fine.

we could call them eggs nietzshean.


i'm just sayin'... :whistle:
 

Keltin

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the other option is to eat contaminated eggs undercooked, and those that just get stomach aches and don't die will be fine.

we could call them eggs nietzshean.


i'm just sayin'... :whistle:

Consider it a cleansing. Everyone needs to purge on occasion. Heck, some spas charge $350 a night for that! :dizzy:
 

Keltin

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My problem with self pasteurization at home:

Pasteurization results in the destruction of all pathogenic organisms, whereas in sterilization all viable organisms are killed. Minimally, pasteurization of food is achieved by exposure to 145°F for 30 minutes or 212 °F for 0.01 seconds (5). Numerous pasteurization studies done on milk indicate that Salmonella is incapable of surviving this process (1).
http://www.gapeanuts.com/consumer/PBPlantMicroorganisms.pdf

Paying attention to the heat transfer coefficient as related by the laws of thermodynamics, it’s obvious that a minute or 2 in 140 degree water won't cut it.

The outer shell may warm a but, but no way the center will have absorbed enough heat to kill salmonella. Thus, commercial pasteurization is done at 145 for 30 minutes or more.

The dip of 0.01 seconds at 212 is only good for liquids like milk. Won’t do a thing for an egg.

So, to properly pasteurize an egg at home, we need to observe thermal conductivity laws and maintain a temp of 145 for 30 minutes.

All but impossible for the average home cook without a Thermal Immersion Circulator - which would also be handy for sous vide cooking!

Without the circulator, even if you got your temp to 145, the moment you drop the eggs in, the temp will plummet as the eggs begin to absorb the thermal energy from the water. From there, you are challenged with bringing back and maintaining the 145, and on an electric eye, all but impossible. On gas it is better, but overshoot leads to cooking your eggs.

Home pasteurization techniques of 2-3 minutes might be good for cleansing the shell, but they will do nothing for the internal egg itself, and that means it is not pasteurization.

So yeah Bucky, I guess those Nietzschean eggs are on the menu after all??? :lol:
 

buckytom

Grill Master
i owe my high tolerance for food borne nasty bits to eating a lot of raw eggs (blended into chocolate milk) as a kid. it was some weird norwegian thing my mom made to help keep you healthy during the winter.

and i had such a nice shiny coat, too.

actually, we may have had some tainted eggs recently. dw was craving ihop, so we all went there for a late breakfast last week. my boy and i ordered over easy eggs, and they came out just barely cooked enough on top as not to be considered raw. we both like eggs a little on the runnier side, so we ate them.

but later, we both had some gas and minor stomach pains. that's usually the sign to me that i ate something bad. i'm glad my son didn't fare any worse. next time i have to be more careful with him, until he's a little older.
 

Leni

New member
The trouble is that for breakfast I like my eggs over easy. Don't like scrambled nearly as much but that's how I'm cooking them right now.
 

High Cheese

Saucier
Make omelettes or pork roll, egg and cheese samiches.

People need to educate themselves! The DW is all bugged out and didn't buy any eggs this week. lol
 
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