The federal government has come out with a set of guidelines
to curb food poisoning by Salmonella enteritidis bacteria, and it includes zero
tolerance for cracked eggs in shipments to retail outlets.
The incidence of cracks in retail-ready packages of Grade A
eggs is a hot issue that’s included in a lawsuit brought by tiny Best Choice Eggs
against Burnbrae Farms and L.H. Gray and Sons Ltd., which together account for
about 90 per cent of Ontario’s wholesale market, and the Egg Farmers of Ontario
marketing board.
Information gained earlier this year via an
Access-to-Information request and court documents in Ottawa indicates that up
to 11 per cent of the eggs Burnbrae and Gray fail to meet Grade A standards claimed on packaging because they are cracked, dirty or the wrong size. That was
taken from Canadian Food Inspection Agency random-sample checking of the
accuracy of the companies’ grading. Almost all of the samples checked had at
least one cracked egg.
The guidelines have been developed by the Canadian Food
Inspection Agency, Health Canada and the Public Health Agency of Canada and
were released this week.
The zero tolerance for cracks is one of several
recommendations that will challenge the poultry industry.
Another major challenge will be keeping surplus hatching eggs
from broiler breeder farms out of the fresh egg market.
The guidelines
recommend all surplus hatching eggs go directly to egg-processing plants where
the contents are pasteurized.
It also recommends that all eggs from any flock that tests
positive for S.enteritidis (Se) go direct from the farm to a processing plant,
by-passing grading stations.
The guidelines also call for:
·
All pullet flocks to be tested for Se. If they
test positive, they are to be kept out of the egg-laying business.
·
All laying-hen flocks be tested twice for Se
with one of those tests eight to 10 weeks before the end of lay. If any tests
reveal Se in a flock, the eggs from that flock are to move directly to
processing plants, by-passing egg-grading stations and none are to be sold as fresh
eggsd to the public.
·
No eggs from flocks that have been moulted by
feed withdrawal be allowed into the market.
·
No ungraded eggs be allowed for sale at farmers’
markets.
·
All flocks that produce eggs for sale in the
table market be managed to HACCP (Hazard Analysis Critical Control Points)
standards.
Ninety per cent of eggs produced by marketing-board quota holders
comply with the Start Clean-Stay Clean food-safety standards adopted by the Egg
Farmers of Canada national agency; all of them are tested for Se.
The challenge
will be to bring all non-quota egg producers up to standard.
The guidelines
are to become effective this December.
Copies are
available from any of the three agencies – CFIA, Health Canada or the Public
Health Agency of Canada.
The title is Health Canada Guidance on Reducing the Risk of Salmonella Enteritidis in Shell Eggs
Produced in Canada.
