You can easily avoid salmonella contamination without avoiding eggs

Fear Not!

I don’t want to alarm you, but they’re probably lurking deep in your refrigerator right now–ready to pounce! But if you just back away from the fridge, nice and easy, you might survive.

That’s the scary message the mainstream media has fed us for years: Fear the egg! Eek! It’s a cholesterol bomb that will ravage your heart! And now they’re telling us that our risk of getting one tainted with salmonella is even more dangerous than the cholesterol.

I hope you haven’t bought all that nonsense. Because– surprise!–a well-cooked, organic egg is one of the most nutritious foods you can eat–and one of the safest, if you prepare it correctly.

Baddest of the bad

It’s not like we weren’t warned.

Late last year, the Center for Science in the Public Interest released a report listing the 10 riskiest foods regulated by the FDA. Based on CSPI’s research of foodborne illness outbreaks reported between 1990 and 2006, eggs placed second on that list, right behind leafy greens.

The other “most risky” (in descending order of danger):

Tuna
Oysters
Potatoes
Cheese
Ice cream
Tomatoes
Sprouts
Berries

That’s pretty unsettling, isn’t it? The average person probably eats three or more items on that list daily. It’s like we’re all playing Food Roulette. And according to CSPI, the FDA doesn’t do enough to improve your odds of winning that dangerous game. Believe it or not, there are currently no FDA safety standards for food growers and producers.

So odds are, sooner or later, you’re going to lose at Food Roulette. But it’s actually very easy to win virtually every time at Egg Roulette.

Here are nine tips that can significantly reduce salmonella risk and maximize egg nutrition…

EGG TIP ONE: Don’t eat eggs in prison. Seriously. This is where the largest egg-related illness outbreaks occur.

EGG TIP TWO: Avoid eggs at catered events. The problems here often stem from eggs kept at improper temperatures before and after cooking.

EGG TIP THREE: Avoid eating raw or runny eggs. Thorough cooking is the key to controlling salmonella.

EGG TIP FOUR: After purchasing eggs, get them home and refrigerated as soon as possible. Egg shells are porous, so an egg that warms up is vulnerable to contaminants.

EGG TIP FIVE: When possible, purchase eggs directly from a farmer. Smaller flocks are less likely to carry salmonella. (The recent recall of 500 million+ eggs came from just TWO farms. Imagine the size of those flocks!)

EGG TIP SIX: If an egg isn’t labeled organic, be suspicious of “free range” and “cage free” claims. USDA standards for these two categories are VERY lax if the eggs aren’t organic.

EGG TIP SEVEN: Purchase organic eggs. This is where regulations get tougher. To claim “organic” on the egg carton, the USDA requires that hens receive organic feed that’s free of genetically modified crops. Feed is also required to come from fields that have not been treated with toxic chemical fertilizers and pesticides for at least three years. Also, hens can’t be given hormones. Antibiotics can only be used to protect the birds when disease outbreaks occur. The hens can’t be kept in cages, and must have access to the outdoors.

EGG TIP EIGHT: According to Dr. William Campbell Douglass, organic eggs will have bright orange yolks that are firm and round. Low quality eggs have pale yolks that are easily broken.

EGG TIP NINE: Don’t fear the cholesterol content of eggs. As Dr. Spreen has pointed out, there’s no correlation between oral intake of cholesterol and blood levels of cholesterol.

But there IS a correlation between egg consumption and good nutrition. Omega-3 fatty acids, folic acid, vitamins E, A, and B-12 are just a few of the excellent nutrients you’ll get from eggs. So go ahead and open the refrigerator door with confidence. There’s nothing to be afraid of because those eggs are probably some of the healthiest things in your fridge.

To Your Good Health,

Jenny Thompson

Sources:
“FDA: Egg recall not expected to grow” Associated Press, 8/23/10, ap.org
“Leafy Greens, Eggs, & Tuna Top List of Riskiest FDA- Regulated Foods” Center for Science in the Public Interest, 10/6/09, cspinet.org
“Egg-splained: Free-range, cage-free and organic” CNN, 8/20/10, eatocracy.cnn.com