FDA's New Egg Rules Make a Disgusting Industry a Little Safer

As of July 9th, new egg safety rules set by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) went into effect. They're something of a mixed bag from the sustainable food perspective, but on the whole this seems to be a pretty positive development. While a published document sufficiently explains the new rules, it also highlights  just how gross and unsanitary 99 percent of America's egg farms are.

The regulation puts several new rules in place for egg producers in an attempt to control the pathogen Salmonella enteritidis.  Salmonella causes an estimated 1.5 million illnesses each year, almost all of which are foodborne. A huge majority of reported outbreaks can be traced back to eggs. The FDA expects these new regulations to prevent 79,000 illnesses and 30 deaths each year. The rules require that producers refrigerate eggs held for more than 36 hours, implement pest control and biosecurity measures, clean and disinfect poultry houses between flocks if salmonella has been detected, obtain chicks and young hens only from suppliers that have a salmonella control program in place, and other measures. If a test for salmonella in a poultry house comes up positive, the eggs themselves must be tested and any infected eggs either treated to kill the bacteria or diverted to non-food uses. What is really surprising is that these common sense measures weren't already required. No wonder eggs cause so many outbreaks every year.

Egg producer trade groups had been promoting a voluntary program, but (surprise, surprise) a government study of industry practices revealed that only about half of farms participated. It also found that 58 percent of America's farms tested positive for salmonella, and that "rodents and flies had access to feed in feed troughs on nearly all farms .... Less than one percent were cage free." Modern egg production is a disgusting, brutal industry, and anything that can make it a little less gross is fantastic.  Unfortunately, these new regulations do nothing to address the underlying cause of egg-borne diseases: crowded and filthy conditions for chickens.

You are probably thinking about how all this affects small farmers. That's where we have more good news. Despite the protestations of some, farms with fewer than 3,000 hens or those of any size that market directly to consumers are completely exempt. That means that these new rules will only target the big, faceless producers who need it, leaving small farmers who are doing things right to continue unimpeded.

Now, I and many others are of the opinion that it is better to prevent food contamination entirely rather than rely on industrial techniques to "treat" diseased products after the fact. That's why the best thing you can do to ensure egg safety is to buy eggs from pastured chickens. Or better yet, raise your own.

But this report also highlights another big impact you can have. In it, the FDA details every issue raised in the comments they received during the public comment period, providing a thorough and reasoned response to each. When we provide comments on proposed regulations and guidelines (such as the draft guidance on dangerous antibiotic use in livestock), it seems they actually reach the eyes and ears of those who have the power to make changes. You can bet that industrial trade groups make their voices heard; let's make sure we do too.

Photo credit: Melissa Sanders via Flickr