Blame the victim – egg-industry style

Posted: August 29th, 2010 - 9:11am by Doug Powell

Elizabeth Weise writes in tomorrow’s USA Today today that in the wake of one of the largest egg recalls on record with more than 1,400 illnesses linked to eggs produced on two Iowa farms, the egg industry is resorting to the worst tactic of all – blaming the victim.

Krista Eberle of the United Egg Producers' Egg Safety Center said,

"Some people may not think of an egg as you would ground beef, but they need to start. It may sound harsh and I don't mean it to sound that way. But all the responsibility cannot be placed on the farmer. Somewhere along the line consumers have to be responsible for what they put in their bodies."

So what about all those food magazines and porn shows with images of lovingly undercooked eggs?

I told Weise there has been some kind of massive failure for that many people to get sick with salmonella, and that if indeed eggs now need to be treated "like hazardous waste," then the issue isn't so much the egg on the plate as the egg in the bowl, and on the counter and stove.

Douglas Powell, a professor of food safety at Kansas State University in Manhattan, Kansas, said,

"You know, when you're making scrambled eggs and egg ends up on the counter?" His team at K-State has spent hundreds of hours videotaping actual home cooks working in actual kitchens. Eggs could end up anywhere, on hands, dish towels, utensils, the stove, everywhere. People are basically "delusional at how good they are at handling food.”

Nancy Donley, board president of Safe Tables Our Priority, a food safety consumer group, said,

"Telling me that basically 'You didn't cook it right,' it's just offensive. The problem isn't how consumers are preparing the food, the problem is that the food is contaminated. They keep trying to push the responsibility onto consumers, they're just not taking their own responsibility."

If consumers are really being held accountable as the last line of defense in the food safety farm-to-fork line, then the egg industry needs to be explicit about it, says Carol Tucker-Foreman, an assistant secretary of agriculture under President Carter who's worked on food policy at Consumer Federation of America for decades.

"Should egg cartons be required to carry a message that says 'Warning — to protect your health and the health of those in your household, you should assume that these eggs are contaminated with Salmonella Enteriditis and must be handled carefully in order to avoid possible illness?' " she asks.

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Comments

Tina says:

Should egg cartons be required to carry a message that says 'Warning — to protect your health and the health of those in your household, you should assume that these eggs are contaminated with Salmonella Enteriditis and must be handled carefully in order to avoid possible illness?' Well, maybe..yeah. We were told years ago to stop eating raw eggs and to stop eating raw choc. chip cookie dough, very painful..loving memory from my childhood. Sigh. But that knowledge doesn't ..is the word exonerate? the companies that supplied the sick chicks which turned into sick hens who produced contaminated eggs. The hens should be healthy in order to produce safe eggs. Duh. I'm tired, forgive me.

Posted on August 29th, 2010 - 11:17pm

cameron says:

Yes, perhaps there should be a warning message on egg cartons that inform the general public about the dangers, or at lease the possibility that if they are not careful with this product, then they risk to themselfs and others in their house holds the chances of getting ill. A while back while working with a California county health dept, us health inspectors were told "by a office memo" that, "when your dealing with the public, your dealing with a population that basiscally, functions and comprehens on a eighth grade educational level". Do not talk to the public as if they have "your level" of education. So we did. Years later, I read in the Sacramento Bee news paper, that, here in California, the "average person" functions and comprehens on the "sixth" (6th) grade educational level. What will it be three(3) to five(5)years from today, August 31st, 2010 ? What this tells me is, YES, something has to be done to drill into the heads of the American public (because they simple do not know what "is" best for them as they claim)that certain food items can and will make them and others sick if they are not carefull in any aspect of the food preparation protocol(s)that may contain eggs in the ingredients. Just as we need to inform or tell the American public, regardless of "their dreams", that perhaps they can not afford that big lavish home, that big SUV, that five car garage, that household of five or seven kids, that household with every imaginable electronic gadget, that they can't be a like the "Jones's" next door, etc... simply because they can not afford it. And that it's not ALL the banks fault.....but their own greed and desires that in the way that got them in this mess to begin with,..... kinda like NOW with so many American household who are over their heads in debt. PEOPLE NEED TO BE RESPOSIBLE TOO. NOT JUST THE COMPANIES WE DEAL WITH IN OUR LIVES, BUT WITH OURSELFS AS WELL. And one other thing. "NO", I'm not sorry the lease bit if I sound like Obama and the Government. Because NOW these same jackass's want the government to step in and do something, because "they" were injuried". These people always want the government to do something when "their privilage / entitled class " folks get hurt, but before hand they want the government to stay away and not make any desitions into legislation that may benefit all Americans. You can't have it both ways. You either live with the consequenses of a no regulatory society (Nixon, Ford, REAGAN, Bush Sr, BUSH Jr) or live with the fact that we need regulatory oversight in some American industries like accounting, banking, communications, finance, home-morgages.....and yes, food safety, GOT IT ???? Now go ahead and hate me for telling the truth.

Posted on August 31st, 2010 - 12:12pm

Anonymous says:

The egg and the intestinal content have the same exit route. The egg passing the rectum becomes virtually contaminated not only with Salmonella but with any other bacteria that belongs to the intestinal flora. Salmonella is normally present in the chickens (hens) intestine and it does not indicate disease in poultry. Yes, eggs should be washed before use, the shell s should be discarded right away in the garbage and hands wash is highly recommended after manipulating eggs. I think it is simple and common sense to take a few precautionary steps when handling eggs.

Posted on September 9th, 2010 - 3:59pm

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