Sandra Keros
With fresh green grass and warmer, sunnier days, Spring is high-time in the new year for naturally pastured chickens to be laying eggs. These great conditions give yolks a more intensely yellow-ish orange color as well as higher levels of Omega 3s, vitamins D and A. However, did you know that you're supposed to rinse your eggs before cracking them for an omelet?
According to the
USDA Food Safety website:
"Bacteria can be on the outside of a shell egg. That's because
the egg exits the hen's body through the same
passageway as feces is excreted. That's why eggs are washed and
sanitized at the processing plant.
Bacteria can be inside an uncracked, whole egg. Contamination
of eggs may be due to bacteria within the hen's
ovary or oviduct before the shell forms around the yolk and
white. SE (Salmonella Enteritidis) doesn't make the hen sick. It is also possible
for eggs to become infected by Salmonella Enteritidis
fecal contamination through the pores of the shells
after they're laid."
So how does Salmonella develop and how widespread is it?
Wikipedia reports,
"According to U.S. Department of Agriculture in 2002 (Risk Analysis April 2002
22(2):203-18), of the 69 billion eggs produced annually only 2.3 million are
contaminated with salmonella—equivalent to just one in every 30,000
eggs. However, the risk of infection is dependent on the sanitary conditions under which the hens are kept."
There are the stats, folks. Of course, the safest bet is to put on your farm hat and raise your own hens. Short of that, I recommend buying your eggs from a source you trust. I love getting pastured eggs from a neighbor, the farmers' market, Rainbow Grocery or Bi-Rite here in San Francisco. These quality eggs have more flavor and bring a creamy lusciousness to your scrambled eggs - mmmm - once you have it, you'll be spoiled for life. Besides taste, the hens' unconfined, cleaner environs on pasture is clearly the natural way to raise them and reduces the chance of illness due to unnatural factory conditions. (See the Meatrix video -
www.themeatrix.com for an animated depiction of factory raised hens.)
Here comes the mantra again..."buy local"! By doing this and washing your eggs every time you'll stay on the "sunny side" of breakfast!
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