Salmonella Outbreak

As you have no doubt heard, there has been an unprecedented outbreak of salmonella in this country leading to a massive recall of millions of eggs by The Wright County Egg and Hillandale Farms of Iowa. Hundreds of people in California, Minnesota and Colorado have become sick.

The FDA has an updated list of recalled eggs on its website below.

http://www.accessdata.fda.gov/scripts/shelleggsrecall/

Federal health officials are now saying that contaminated chicken feed is likely to blame for the outbreak. The FDA hasn't determined if the feed came to the facility contaminated or if the feed was contaminated at the facility.

This particular strain, salmonella enteritidis can affect the inside of an egg. The ovaries of a hen can be contaminated by the bacteria, passing the contaminant along to the whites, yoke, and shell of an egg. When people eat food contaminated by Salmonella entiritidis, they suffer from inflammation of the stomach and intestines. Symptoms of salmonella poisoning could begin up to three days after eating the tainted eggs and include fever, cramps and diarrhea. Cooking eggs thoroughly greatly reduces the risk.

This salmonella contamination occurred at facilities using the all-too common Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations (CAFO) practice where chickens are packed into cages so tightly that they can barely move. The cages are stacked on top of each other until they reach the building's rafters. Tens of thousands of chickens can populate a single laying shed. Conditions are filthy and overcrowded. It is easy to see how quickly disease can spread and this is what happened at The Wright County Egg and Hillandale Farms, leading to the recent outbreak of salmonella.

This latest recall is yet another reason to visit your local farmers' market this weekend. Simply put, local, organic chickens have less bacteria than their CAFO-raised counterparts. You can buy eggs at most local farmers' markets I have visited.