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Egg Recall: How Scared Should I Be?
I am worried about the egg recall. My family eats a LOT of eggs since we bake all our own bread and deserts and have full breakfasts every morning.
The news reports have us really scared.
Can anyone explain it to me in simple terms?
Thank you!
Peggy. (That's right, there is even an egg in my name! LOL!)
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I am probably the wrong person to give you advice on this one since I tend to think the media should be tarred and feathered for most of their mass panic exploits... However... You sound concerned and I am going to put my 2 cents in here...
Salmonella is dangerous and no one wants to get it. It can be fatal, especially on certain types of people (old, young, suppressed immune system).
You need to practice clean and safe food handling and if you know for certain you have an affected lot of eggs, return them (or do whatever the instructions are for this recall).
Generally speaking, however, the salmonella is going to be on the outside of the shell. Therefore when you touch the shell, your hands are now contaminated and should be carefully washed. If you cook eggs so that the yolk is still runny, there is a chance that the egg touched the shell on the way into the frying pan and the yolk could be contaminated.
However- cooking kills the salmonella. Heat over 140*F kills salmonella. Therefore, if you are baking bread or cakes, or if you make scrambled eggs, you should be ok whether the eggs are infected or not. Just be absolutely certain that once you break all the eggs and get them into the mix, the pan, whatever you wash your hands thoroughly to prevent cross contamination.
And no tasting that cookie dough until you have a fully baked cookie.
Be aware of the problem, take precautions, and return eggs if you know for sure they are infected. but do NOT stop baking that yummy homemade bread. The news is really good at causing panic.
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