Dr. Terry Simpson talks about salmonella contamination in your eggs
Foodborne illness is something that I am particularly concerned about because I like to cook. You may have heard about the recent e coli outbreak in Europe. E coli is a bacteria that infects the gut. That e coli outbreak contaminated sprouts and probably won't find its way into our food supply. But salmonella is another bad bacteria that is commonly found in eggs in the United States. Which is the reason that we want to be very careful about eating raw eggs, knowing what their source is, understanding if they have salmonella or not. To show you how bad it was, in 2010 there was a huge outbreak with a recall of thousands and thousands of eggs. The eggs aren't contaminated on the outside of their shell but on their inside because the hens who lay the eggs have salmonella in them. So you have to be very careful when dealing with eggs. In fact Salmonella last year was responsible for 23 of the 46 deaths that were related to foodborne illness.
So here are some tips:
- Think of raw eggs as something you do not want to handle or eat.
- If you have anything that you use raw eggs on, be sure to wash them out completely and thoroughly and don't cross contaminate in your kitchen.
- Make sure the eggs are done properly, which is not over cooked. But you don't want them under cooked either.
Raw eggs are potentially dangerous and deadly, especially to small children whose immune system hasn't developed fully yet. Even though you might be preparing eggs for yourself, if you cross contaminate with something that can get into your child's food supply, especially infants, it can be a problem for them. Remember this too about food. When food sits out for two hours, especially egg based products, bacteria can grow to lethal levels. If something's out for two hours, get rid of it. It's a lot easier to throw out food than it is to get sick. Until then be careful, be safe, wash your hands and your food implements often. I'm Doctor Terry Simpson and that's your doctor's orders.
