Is salmonella still an issue with home produced eggs?

[lambchicks]

I have wondered about this too. So I am bumping it back to the top...

 

[SproutGirl]

My niece came to visit last Christmas and we baked some cookies for Santa. I wouldn't let her eat the raw cookie dough, even though I know it is delicious and I ate it as a child. I just couldn't stand the small percent of a chance that she might get sick at my house, from one of my eggs, for Christmas. She was so disappointed at not getting to eat the cookie dough. I explained to her how bacteria works, and that I was forbidding her to eat it only because I cared about her. She understood, and then danced around the kitchen with the cookie dough to tease me. What a fun kid. She's 13, but I washed the raw dough off of her hands like a little child while she pretended to eat it. We ate the whole batch of cookies before Santa even came upon her logic that she was in fact Santa. No salmonella.

 

[ChickieKeeta]

In 1992 NJ had a ban on under cooked eggs. It was quickly repealed. Citizens & restaraunts were all complaining. I still eat over easy & soft boiled.

Link to article
www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m3190/is_n4_v26/ai_11851335

Talk about government intrusion into how we live!

 

[Charlene]

I just did some poking around the web. Apparently, it is still possible to get from home flocks, but the chances are greatly decreased. Free range and organic flocks test around 5%, while large, industial flocks can have 4 times that amount. Other random tidbits I picked up: it is estimated that the chance of the salmonella being in the egg is only 1 in 20,000. I believe this is different from it being on the shell, where it would be slightly more common. When it is in the egg, it is generally in the white, and only can get into the yolk when the egg gets old. So another bonus for our home raised eggs. Anyway, chances seem pretty darn small!

 

[saddina]

The chances in a home flock is really slim.

 

[Uppity Peon]

Salmonella is very common and present in eggs. But it is one of those things where a little exposure won't hurt you. But if you allow the right conditions, it can multiply and become harmful.

You have heard about the ranch dressing or the potato salad at the family picnic getting everyone sick. That happens when the cook uses bad cooking practices and cross contaminates the cooked food, and then it sits out all day at room temperature. The bacteria multiplies at room temperature to the point it will make you sick. Never stir the potato salad with the same spoon you used to beat the eggs, and keep the salad nice and cold.

 

[CMV]

I ate a bad egg when I was a kid- soft poached egg to be exact. Yes, I still remember it 30 plus years later because I was so sick I wanted to die. I couldn't eat eggs after that until I was nearly 30 years old. It does happen rarely, but is not usually an issue.

 

[RachelFromTheBlackLagoon]

I know a girl who buys local farm fresh eggs and drinks one raw every single day and has never gotten sick.

 

[NotTheMomma]

My mother-out-law has been screaming at me for years because I let the kids eat cake/cookie batter. I LOVE raw dough myself! And I like to lick the bowl and beaters. So far, knock on wood, I haven't had a problem with it either.

I would agree with those that say our flocks are safer, though I have nothing to back that up with.

 

[cmom]

I was wondering the same thing. I came across an article that I thought was interesting.

The inside of an egg was once considered almost sterile. But, over recent years, the bacterium Salmonella enteritidis (Se) has been found inside a small number of eggs. Scientists estimate that, on average across the U.S., only 1 of every 20,000 eggs might contain the bacteria. So, the likelihood that an egg might contain Se is extremely small – 0.005% (five one-thousandths of one percent). At this rate, if you’re an average consumer, you might encounter a contaminated egg once every 84 years.