How safe are free-range eggs?
Years ago - before we moved here and put a dog inside - the shed out back was a chicken coop. These were the original backyard chickens. A resurgence of small-flock rearing has led many to wonder (and make assumptions) about the safety of free-range eggs.
Joel Keehn wrote on Consumer Reports' Health blog this weekend that,
"About a year ago I took my 11-year-old daughter to the emergency room with what turned out to be salmonella poisoning. My first thought when I heard the diagnosis: Did she pick up the infection from our flock of chickens? But the public-health outreach worker at the local department of health said that was unlikely.
"While eggs are indeed a leading cause of salmonella poisoning, the bacteria that causes the infection may be more likely to breed in the cramped confines of factory farms than in free-range, backyard chicken runs like ours."
Oh? That's an interesting assumption. And Keehn doesn't provide anything to support it.
As far as I can tell, salmonella contamination of eggs from various farming methods has not been well-researched...save for one study rumored in January 2008 to have been conducted by the UK government that "showed that 23.4 per cent of farms with caged [egg-laying] hens tested positive for salmonella compared to 4.4 per cent in organic flocks and 6.5 per cent in free-range flocks."
The closest thing I could find was a report by the UK Food Standards Agency in March 2004 of testing results of 4,753 containers of six eggs each (with 16.9% from free-range production systems) that found "no statistically significant difference...between the prevalence of salmonella contamination in samples from different egg production types."
Keehn's blog post concluded by saying,
"By the way, the health department official who called me up said the most likely source of my daughter’s salmonella poisoning was our pet turtle. That critter is now gone. But I’m picking up four new hens from my neighbor down the road later this week."
I have no reason to believe their eggs will be any safer than those of caged hens. Keehn's reason is not good enough.
Fly in frozen baguette among food safety complaints
The report by principal food safety officer Alan Yates also reveals that officials sent 1,168 warning letters to establishments alerting them to contraventions of public health legislation.The report also shows officers carried out 2,958 visits across the north in connection with food hygiene, and 826 in connection with food standards – the composition and labelling of food.
The report comes as the Food Standards Agency (FSA) has proposed a UK-wide system to grade the hygiene of restaurants, cafes, supermarkets and other food outlets.
The results would be displayed on doors or windows, as well as on a website to allow consumers to check ratings, in an effort to improve standards and cut food poisoning.
The agency believes a national scheme is needed to replace the plethora of "scores on doors", with nearly half the 435 local authorities already having or being about to introduce their own systems. In some areas, consumers and the media have had to use freedom of information legislation to find out the verdict of hygiene inspectors.
Bad advice from the UK Food Standards Agency
Um, fresh fruits are vegetables are the leading vehicles of foodborne illness today.
Simple precautions include avoiding cooking food that’s about to go off and making sure you dry your hands properly after washing them – far more bacteria are spread from damp hands than dry hands.
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The story cites the U.K. Food Standards Agency as a source for additional information. FSA tells folks,"If you are checking a burger, sausage, or a portion of chicken or pork, cut into the middle and check there is no pink meat left. The meat should also be piping hot in the middle. If you're checking a whole chicken or other bird, pierce the thickest part of the leg (between drumstick and thigh) with a clean knife or skewer until the juices run out. The juices shouldn't have any pink or red in them."
This is bad advice. Color is a lousy indicator of doneness using a tip-sensitive digital thermometer is the only safe way to determine is food has reached a safe temperature.
And just what is piping hot?
"To test if food has been properly cooked, check that it is 'piping hot' all the way through. This means that it is hot enough for steam to come out. Cut open the food with a small knife so that you can check that it is piping hot in the middle. Generally, if food is piping hot in the middle, then it will be piping hot all the way through. … Some foods change colour when they are cooked. Looking at colour is especially useful for checking meat."
I wonder how much money was spent on consultants, and how many salaries sat around a conference table, to conclude that consumers weren't bright enough to understand more accurate messages that would actually protect their well-being.
Stick it in.
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