E-mail updates
Follow on Twitter
Subscribe to RSSBy Jane Weaver
Minnesota health officials are investigating six cases of salmonella poisoning linked to organic eggs.
The Department of Agriculture said the contaminated eggs were traced to the Larry Schultz Organic Farm of Owatonna, where testing confirmed the presence of salmonella bacteria. The farm has issued a voluntary recall of the eggs and is cooperating with the Minnesota agriculture probe.
At least six people, both children and adults, became ill between Aug. 12 and Sept. 24, after consuming the organic eggs purchased at grocery stores. Three were hospitalized but have recovered.
The eggs were packaged under the brand names Lunds & Byerly’s Organic, Kowalski’s Organic and Larry Schultz Organic Farms. They were sold in 6-egg cartons, dozen egg cartons and 18-egg cartons. Affected eggs carried the EXP Nov 12 label. Cartons bearing plant number 0630 or a "Sell by" date are not included in the recall.
The organic eggs were distributed to restaurants, grocery stores, food wholesalers and food service companies in Minnesota, Wisconsin and Michigan.
To avoid getting sick, consumers should thoroughly cook all eggs before eating. Consumers who believe they have purchased the recalled eggs are advised not to eat them, but return them to the store where purchased for a full refund. For more information, go to the Minnesota Department of Agriculture website.
Leave a Comment:
This sounds like a fiction supported by believers in caged animals in the filthiest living conditions or a move by genetically modified feed which has no nutrient value.
We don't know what else those 6 stricken people were eating besides eggs.
Well it seems the organic health nuts still refuse to believe the truth even when it smacks them in the face. "Organic" is a label growers use to market their products for higher prices. They simply submit an application and then they can slap "organic" on anything they want. There is no QC testing required, there is no verification required that any products are indeed produced "organically." Not to say that everyone is cheating the system, but you fool yourself if you believe you are free and safe simply because your food has "organic" printed in pretty colors on the box. In addition, "organic" or not, bacteria are ubiquitous throughout the planet, they are on every farm, they are in every animal, they are in every plant. It's shocking and scary how well the organic marketing has worked...because clearly the products fall short.
MmmMmmBeer
What? Are you 12? In what way do the products fall short?
Yeah, man! Gimme another plate full of those healthy free range groceries!!
My God!!!!!!! Some people are unbelievably ignorant when it comes to what is meant by "organic". No wonder we get the sub-human trash elected into office. These are the ones that put them there. Oh,,,, care to explain the cantaloupe fiasco we just went through??
Joe D, maybe you missed the part where they actually found the bacteria in the eggs. Moreover, just because something is genetically modified does not mean it has no nutritional value. There is a sucker born every minute and a lot of shop for "organic" foods.
Nutgrape - take your pick:
higher price with no added safety
higher price with no added nutritional value
higher price with shorter shelf life
higher price with goods damaged in transport
higher price with lower yields
All the organic movement has done is marketed themselves supubrly. They are the iPods of the food world. No much is new, not much is different, but it's got a pretty label and a snazzy name so you buy it, don't you?
P.S. no need for insults. If I was 12, I would be concerned with sugar in my frosted flakes not an organic label. In reality I'm very well educated on the subject and have worked in the Ag industry for over a decade.
This is simply untrue, according to the USDA.
http://www.ams.usda.gov/AMSv1.0/nop
If I remember correctly, "MmmMmmBeer" claims to have a MS in biological science, gets accused of being a pre-adolescent often, and thinks he's, and I quote, "one hundred thousand percent correct" about everything he says.
And again, the marketing wizards win. You apply for organic certification, you are granted, and you can market your product at a higher price. Says so on the site, thanks for backing that up. The "compliance" department relies on consumer complaint, all reactionary and nothing is QC tested or verified pro-actively. Your website verifies everything I said, thank you again.
I'm a little shocked you track my every movement on the newsvine, a little stalker-ish but that's ok, I don't give any information that is not true. You do remember correctly, I not only claim to have an MS in microbial biotechnology, I physically hold the degree. You don't have to believe me, but it's a pretty consistent "lie" I've been telling. Being passionate and informed on a subject may be viewed by some as immature, that's fine, people are called names on newsvine all the time. Not sure where you got that quote, I do recall saying something along the lines that people like you are one hundred thousand percent INCORRECT. So far that has been the case. Obviously it struck a note with you or you would not have remembered it!
In any case, thank you again for demonstrating how 100-1000% correct I can be, and as I replied to Nutgrape, no need to try to be insulting, the facts speak for themselves. Enjoy paying more for your organic food while exposing yourself to the same risks.
See The Organic Foods Production Act, sections
2107 [7 USC 6506] GENERAL REQUIREMENTS (paragraphs 4-10),
2108 [7 USC 6507] STATE ORGANIC CERTIFICATION PROGRAM (sections b & c)
2110 - 2119
2120 VIOLATIONS OF TITLE
located at:
http://www.ams.usda.gov/AMSv1.0/getfile?dDocName=STELPRDC5060370&acct=nopgeninfo
So you are not 100,000% correct about compliance relying on consumer complaints. You're not even 1% correct. Read the law. It's all pretty simple and laid out in black and white...wouldn't you agree?
Interesting that you would equate me remembering you and what you said in the past to "stalking", or "striking a note" with me. I would suggest to you that I just remembered...and that if something doesn't "strike a note" with me I wouldn't bother commenting. It's OK though...I'm learning that your style is more on the hyperbolic side when it comes to addressing real issues.
What the heck?? Do those chickens lay eggs in a pile of cr@p or what? Not hip to organic eggs.
Without doing any research on these farms, I suspect they are factory-sized farms producing eggs under conditions that just meet the bare minimum standards to be called organic. Standards these factory farms lobby to dilute as much as possible.
Organic doesn't mean clean!
I know I just took a 100% organic dump.
I know Larry and have been to his farm, I have also been to several large conventional operations. His farm is far and away a better situation for laying hens. They have room to walk around and get outside and he really strives to maintain a very clean environment. He is aware that salmanilla is becoming a growing problem everywhere and can show up in even the cleanest environments. The barn floors are constantly turned over with new floor and nesting materials. Despite this incident, I would have no problem buying his eggs.
Is that you Larry posing as Chuck W
How come it always seems that these cases originate in supposedly regulated facilities? People are always afraid to eat farm raised food and the laws put in place are designed to keep that fear in place, but the cases of bacterial contamination are always reported from certified farms where profit is based on volume of production not on actual quality.
I have a small farm and produce, in part, farm fresh eggs. We personally eat what we produce. If I couldn't eat it, I wouldn't offer it to anyone else, yet I have people who tell me they won't eat anything but grocery store eggs. Okay, that is their choice, of course and they can spend their money however they want. But I always want to ask them, where did those eggs come from? I wonder what people are basing their ideas of wholesomeness on?
Beckycs- These cases do not always originate from large facilities. People do get food poisoning from local small farm products. It is because of the numbers that allow the tracing back to the source. If one person gets sick from something they bought from a small producer it is unlikely the source will ever be found. I do prefer local food when available but do not consider it safer.
I have to laugh at people who think that "organic" automatically means "healthy", and "all-natural" automatically means "safe". The all-natural, organic world is full of all-natural, organic diseases.
So the people that got sick drank the raw eggs? If you cook the eggs, ALL bacteria is killed. This is just another propaganda piece. My chickens have NEVER given me any problems.
That is 100% false, high temperature will not kill bacteria spores. Please do not spread misinformation as some may believe you and be harmed through no fault of their own.
I too have never had food poisoning, from anything. But thinking this is propaganda, basically denying it happened, is ridiculous. Why else would the company confirm the contaminant and voluntarily recall the product?
I must be wrong because parasites like you still linger. The bacteria that threatens our food supply is killed when heated, unless it is engineered like the prions that cause mad cow disease. Like I said......you.
I like beer, but Kerry is right if you thoroughly cook the eggs contaminated with salmonella you won't get sick.
But I do mean cook completely as in no runny whites or yolks, and if used in a cake or something the bacteria will be killed.
I agree with you John, Salmonella does not sporulate and therefore it is killed when cooked.
Kerry said, and I quote "ALL bacteria are killed" which is simply not true, at all, no matter how you slice it. Kerry is also incorrect about prions, which are naturally occurring misfolded proteins. That is likely why Kerry resorts to name calling, his "information" is lacking.
Not to mention even the CDC web site claims that too. Beer must be drinking one too many and is either contradicting the CDC or he is involved in covert creation of heat resistant strains.
Dude, Kerry, you don't have the background to know what you are talking about. Bacteria which produce SPORES are resistant to a number of things that kill normal microbes, including heat, desiccation, etc. Check the CDC again, they agree with me. And I'm actually providing a link from a CDC training video (you know, info they use to train other people) for you to fact check: http://www.cdc.gov/nceh/vsp/training/videos/transcripts/microworld.pdf
You may want to start by learning the difference between a parasite and a microbe, as well as learning, and I quote "Some bacteria produces spores. These spores contain all the genetic material of the bacteria. They can survive disinfection, sanitization, cooking, and freezing." Did you catch that? Survive cooking. CDC and I agree on this one, and no matter how much you try, ALL bacteria ARE NOT killed when you cook food. Your statement was false. MMBeer out!
We need a beer summit between you two.
Hahah John agreed again! This always ends up happening. Try to use facts and science and some people stick to anecdotes.
And in case anyone has issues with the training video source, try this:
http://www.cdc.gov/hicpac/Disinfection_Sterilization/19_00glossary.html
or even more relevant to food-borne pathogen:
http://www.cdc.gov/foodborneburden/clostridium-perfringens.html
Perhaps you should blame god or some other divine creator for making spores, but they are naturally occurring and they are heat resistant. Again I repeat, NOT ALL bacteria are killed by cooking. To make that claim is false and may injure someone who doesn't understand.
Prove me where I was wrong Beer. Any bacteria if heated to a proper temperature will it not die?
Some just have a higher tolerance to heat. But to show what apples and oranges your credentials/opinion is....... What bacteria will survive a blast furnace or the heat of lets say oxygen/acetylene temperatures? Which bacteria could survive those temperatures and still exist in it's natural state?
Yes, a blast furnace will kill bacteria, but is hardly appropriate for food preparation. There are bacteria which can survive boiling temps - in fact, there are some bacteria that thrive in boiling water around volcanic vents in the ocean floor. That is why sterilization requires autoclaving (high heat plus high pressure over a period of time), dry heat in an oven for hours (again, food would be destroyed), or the use of chemicals which would also be toxic to humans.
Sterility, meaning the impossibility of survival of all microbes, including their spores, is not achievable through conditions used for food preparation.
My prior response was to a apples and orange correction by MMMMbeeer.
One person caught my meaning while the drunk fell off the cliff.
I know all bacteria PRESENT in eggs are killed when fried. That is the point of #9. The drunk and I have gone at it before and that is why it felt it had to get technical.
Kerry-257967, you are suspended for a day for violating rule # 1 of the Code of Honor.
You can hardly expect to make an incorrect statement, using all caps for emphasis, and expect someone with knowledge to the contrary not to call you on it. All bacteria present are not guaranteed to be killed during cooking. It is possible for some bacteria survive cooking temperatures. Cooking does kill most pathogens and makes food safer, but it is not sterile.
You can get salmonella poisoning from chickens raised almost anywhere. It is only noticed more in factory farms because of the volume of product coming from them. Remember, most food poisoning comes from food preparation in your own home. despite this, people still perform unsanitary practices in the home and at the same time freak out about organic foods.
Davidson's brand eggs are pasteurized, just like milk is. I buy Davidson's Pasteurized eggs just for this reason.
It doesn't matter if they are organic or not - any eggs can have salmonella in or on them. This is why the official line is to cook your eggs all the way till they aren't runny at all. Even then, there's still a chance of getting sick if the eggs are infected but the odds are much lower. The only way to completely eliminate chances of food poisoning is to not eat, so these things will happen and should not really surprise anyone. It's only when you see this sort of problem with produce that you can be sure somebody at the farm or in distribution screwed up.
Oh and yes organic stuff really is organic in the US (salmonella is organic too, btw)... free range is a whole different matter with looser interpretation and restrictions.
Eggs benedict is so wonderful. An english muffin, poached egg, creamed spinach and hollandaise sauce! Yum Yum to my tum tum!! You feel me!!??
Organic eggs ??? What is that ?
Chicken fed with organic grain which means not OGM gown grains are the healthiest. Chicken fed with flour and feed in small pellets, you do not want to eat those.. because those are full of antibiotics and other poisons..
The best is to buy your eggs at small farms where chickens runs around... Never, ever buy eggs at a store.. they come from industrialized egg farms and believe me, you don't want to eat those.. Stressed hens will lay bad eggs.