Nutrition News Roundup: Salmonella & Eggs

By Monica Gutierrez

Monica is a senior at Texas Woman's University, where she is a Dietetics & Institutional Administration major, and psychology minor.  Currently, her goals are to farther her education and hopefully acquire a dietetic internship, a masters in nutrition, and eventually a PH.D in psychology.  She plans to someday open her own dietetics practice, concentrating on eating disorders.  Monica's biggest dream is to reach out to local low-income communities and the least developed countries, in order to help them acquire a better quality of life through nutrition.  During her spare time, she enjoys writing, traveling, nature hikes, volunteering, trail running, and spending time with her family.  Her interests are anything involving science, nutrition (trying new exotic dishes!), nature, learning about cultures from various countries, and the arts. 

According to the CDC, salmonella is a type of bacteria that resides in the intestines of birds, mammals, and reptiles.  It spreads to humans through the ingestion of contaminated foods, most commonly of animal origin, causing salmonellosis . Salmonellosis is symptomatic; some of the symptoms include fever, diarrhea, and abdominal cramping. It takes about 100 of these microorganisms to make you very ill, after ingesting them.  What could have caused Wright County Egg and Hillandale Farms of Iowa, Inc. to produce such tainted eggs?  These two Iowa based companies are whom investigators believe are responsible for the salmonella outbreak.

Eggs

Salmonella does not discriminate, it can contaminate free range, conventional, and organic farms.  Eggs contain a hard protective shell; this leaves us with the question, “how does salmonella pass through this solid barrier”? The shell of an egg contains about 9000 pores, which makes the egg susceptible to pathogenic microorganisms.  Bacteria enter into the eggs from the outside porous shell or from the inside; usually the chicken is responsible for this by depositing salmonella into the eggs sac.  In the case of these two Iowa based egg companies, investigators found salmonella in the chicken feed used in these farms.  Every factor is being considered and investigated on how exactly this incident could have occurred.  For now, investigators believe it is still safe and becoming even safer to consume eggs.  US egg companies have to comply with FDA safety rules and sanitation practices to ensure your health.  If you have concerns due to this incident, these are some simple tips you can follow to reduce risk factors pertaining to salmonella:

• For vulnerable groups, pasteurized eggs are the safest. Vulnerable groups include the elderly, the very young, and those with immune problems
• Cook your eggs on both sides to kill the salmonella. Eating your eggs “sunny side up” is a risk factor.
• Check for broken eggs in the egg carton before you purchase them at the store.
• Refrigerate eggs promptly.

For in depth information visit: http://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/dbmd/diseaseinfo/foodborneinfections_g.htm#mostcommon

http://news.discovery.com/human/egg-salmonella-bacteria.html