Opinions Needed: How common is it for people to get "sick" off of backyard eggs??

[m1chelle1]

Hello BYC Fam,

Ok- so to elaborate here. I was reading up on one of our lovely featured threads, and it had quite a few people on there recommending NOT to sell eggs to the public or otherwise; for fear that if someone gets sick you could get into "a lot of trouble". I've been a backyard keeper for a handful of years, by no means am I some seasoned expert, so that makes me curious about how common would everyone say it is (from their own personal or families experience) that someone gets sick from eggs from a Backyard or Small flocks (not commercial or store bought eggs)? I'm personally thinking that its likely not common, at all. And I've certainly never seen it myself.....
I understand that it is important to wash the eggs and such prior to handling them whilst cooking, but lets assume that we are all doing somewhat proper egg hygiene here.
Looking for any and all thoughts/comments. Seems to me like a thought provoking question.


Cheers!
M

 

[danceswithronin]

it had quite a few people on there recommending NOT to sell eggs to the public or otherwise; for fear that if someone gets sick you could get into "a lot of trouble".

I personally wouldn't worry about this if/when I start to sell eggs on a small scale. It is very difficult to pinpoint exactly where someone picks up food poisoning after the fact because it takes awhile to present usually, and even more difficult to prove it in court. And if you get money from your eggs in cash, there is no paper trail for people to be able to prove that you sold eggs to them - it's your word against theirs. So the only people who usually get sued successfully for food poisoning are restaurants and companies that manage to make a large group of people sick at once in a really obvious way.

Also I have had eggs sit out unwashed in all sorts of temperatures and have never gotten sick off a single one. All I do is wash them with some antibacterial handsoap right before cracking and cooking. Of course I think careful handling/hygiene of the eggs if you're going to sell them is very important, and I'd never sell one I thought was stale, much less over.

 

[Ridgerunner]

My thoughts are not very likely. Anything is possible, store eggs or our eggs. And you are right, our hygiene when handling the eggs can make a difference. I don't go by a common held theory that our eggs are inherently safer than store eggs simply because the store eggs are handled quite safely if they follow their procedures. I'm not sure everyone on this forum even knows what the risks are or the right procedures for handling.

I think part of it is that we are in a zero tolerance society. Some people are very quick to sue if they think they can get something. And who knows what a jury may decide to do. So there is a risk in selling your eggs. Unless you are doing it for a livelihood how much money are you going to make selling eggs to a few people, enough to pay for the feed maybe. You could lose your house. What are the odds of that? Pretty low in my opinion but not zero. Some people have been caught in this type of mess. And you don't know if the person getting your eggs follows proper hygiene when they have them, though a lawyer might blame that you.

I can see where the warning comes from, if there is the teeniest chance that something bad can possibly happen you will be warned against it. I'm sure people do get sick from our eggs, just like some people get sick from handling chickens. But if you wash your hands after you handle chickens before you stick your hands in your mouth or eyes, you are not very likely to get sick from handling chickens. You are probably not that likely to get sick anyway though they do wallow in poopy soil when taking a dust bath. If you follow proper hygiene when handling eggs I really think the risk is exceptionally low, but not zero.

It's up to you to do that risk assessment for yourself. My family and I eat our eggs. I give some to friends. I don't sell them but donate them to a food bank that will take them. I think I'm covered under the "Good Samaritan" laws for that since I'm not selling them.

 

[m1chelle1]

I personally wouldn't worry about this if/when I start to sell eggs on a small scale. It is very difficult to pinpoint exactly where someone picks up food poisoning after the fact because it takes awhile to present usually, and even more difficult to prove it in court. And if you get money from your eggs in cash, there is no paper trail for people to be able to prove that you sold eggs to them - it's your word against theirs. So the only people who usually get sued successfully for food poisoning are restaurants and companies that manage to make a large group of people sick at once in a really obvious way.

Also I have had eggs sit out unwashed in all sorts of temperatures and have never gotten sick off a single one. All I do is wash them with some antibacterial handsoap right before cracking and cooking. Of course I think careful handling/hygiene of the eggs if you're going to sell them is very important, and I'd never sell one I thought was stale, much less over.

Oh, i agree 100. Yeah, i mean, im def not worried about it on a small scale, personally, i was just more curious about what kind of feedback i could get from the community as to any potential food poisoning from eggs from their (or others) personal flock experiences. I feel like i see all these news articles about BYC flocks eggs poisoning a person here and there and its hard to gauge how actually "common" it is, ya know?? But my personal guess, is still really uncommon. So im curious to see the responses

 

[m1chelle1]

My thoughts are not very likely. Anything is possible, store eggs or our eggs. And you are right, our hygiene when handling the eggs can make a difference. I don't go by a common held theory that our eggs are inherently safer than store eggs simply because the store eggs are handled quite safely if they follow their procedures. I'm not sure everyone on this forum even knows what the risks are or the right procedures for handling.

I think part of it is that we are in a zero tolerance society. Some people are very quick to sue if they think they can get something. And who knows what a jury may decide to do. So there is a risk in selling your eggs. Unless you are doing it for a livelihood how much money are you going to make selling eggs to a few people, enough to pay for the feed maybe. You could lose your house. What are the odds of that? Pretty low in my opinion but not zero. Some people have been caught in this type of mess. And you don't know if the person getting your eggs follows proper hygiene when they have them, though a lawyer might blame that you.

I can see where the warning comes from, if there is the teeniest chance that something bad can possibly happen you will be warned against it. I'm sure people do get sick from our eggs, just like some people get sick from handling chickens. But if you wash your hands after you handle chickens before you stick your hands in your mouth or eyes, you are not very likely to get sick from handling chickens. You are probably not that likely to get sick anyway though they do wallow in poopy soil when taking a dust bath. If you follow proper hygiene when handling eggs I really think the risk is exceptionally low, but not zero.

It's up to you to do that risk assessment for yourself. My family and I eat our eggs. I give some to friends. I don't sell them but donate them to a food bank that will take them. I think I'm covered under the "Good Samaritan" laws for that since I'm not selling them.

Good input! Yeah, i get that. I get that there is really a risk with anything now days. Definitely a good thing to consider; risk v reward. Is it worth the small chance that someone might sue you and win? I suppose it all depends. Good point on the good Samaritan laws. Ive read them before, but i think it would be good to review again. Never know when the could come in handy

 

[ShannonR]

I once had someone accuse me of giving her eggs that supposedly made her sick. It's worth noting that I gave these eggs to her, and did not sell them.

But really, I don't think it was the eggs-- I don't really know what made her sick.

Personally, I think her own food handling and safety methods weren't up to par. Things like not thoroughly cooking before eating, leaving egg shells in the cartons (and then attempted to return those cartons to me--yikes!!)

So yeah, people can be stupid, and then blame that stupidity on you. I didn't get into any trouble for the incident, but I certainly never gave that ingrate lady any more of my eggs!

 

[m1chelle1]

I once had someone accuse me of giving her eggs that supposedly made her sick. It's worth noting that I gave these eggs to her, and did not sell them.

But really, I don't think it was the eggs-- I don't really know what made her sick.

Personally, I think her own food handling and safety methods weren't up to par. Things like not thoroughly cooking before eating, leaving egg shells in the cartons (and then attempted to return those cartons to me--yikes!!)

So yeah, people can be stupid, and then blame that stupidity on you. I didn't get into any trouble for the incident, but I certainly never gave that ingrate lady any more of my eggs!

haha!! Well, im glad you didnt get into any trouble, but yeah, maybe a good thing you didnt sell them. Might have ended differently!
Good call on never giving her any more of your flocks delicious eggs, she doesn't deserve them!

 

[danceswithronin]

I once had someone accuse me of giving her eggs that supposedly made her sick. It's worth noting that I gave these eggs to her, and did not sell them.

But really, I don't think it was the eggs-- I don't really know what made her sick.

Personally, I think her own food handling and safety methods weren't up to par. Things like not thoroughly cooking before eating, leaving egg shells in the cartons (and then attempted to return those cartons to me--yikes!!)

So yeah, people can be stupid, and then blame that stupidity on you. I didn't get into any trouble for the incident, but I certainly never gave that ingrate lady any more of my eggs!

If someone gets food poisoning I immediately look at their food prep hygiene before I look at anything else. I think it's much more likely to be cross-contamination or improper holding/cooking temps than something that is tainted from the get-go.

 

[ShannonR]

If someone gets food poisoning I immediately look at their food prep hygiene before I look at anything else. I think it's much more likely to be cross-contamination or improper holding/cooking temps than something that is tainted from the get-go.

Exactly!! Especially with meats or things that are supposed to be cooked before eating...like eggs.

Shannon Logic states that when you cook food, it kills most anything in that food that could make you sick. Lots of folks don't even consider the cross contamination issue, for me it's second nature. When i started raising my own meat and eggs, I was extremely paranoid and careful about the food safety stuff.

 

[K813ZRA]

I eat a lot of eggs in a raw state (homemade mayo etc) and have never gotten sick that I know of. Not from my backyard eggs, eggs from other backyards nor store bought eggs. Well, for whatever that is worth anyway.