A Purdue University laboratory is getting a steady stream of samples from egg farms as producers gear up to meet the first deadline of a new federal rule requiring them to test for Salmonella.

 

The Indiana Animal Disease Diagnostic Laboratory is a testing point for producers complying with the Food and Drug Administration rule that took effect September 30, 2009. According to Purdue University, farms with at least 50,000 laying hens that do not sell all of their eggs directly to consumers are required to meet the first compliance deadline of July 9.

 

eggs5-featured.jpgThe testing targets Salmonella enteritidis bacteria, which causes an illness that typically lasts 4-7 days and usually results from eating uncooked or undercooked food, including eggs. By thoroughly cooking these foods, prevention of Salmonella infection is possible.

 

Salmonella infection causes fever, abdominal cramps and diarrhea within 12-72 hours.

 

The rule was a response to Salmonella enteritidis contamination detected in so-called environmental samples from egg farms across the United States.

 

These tests involve analyzing material from the hen house floor and manure pits along with other areas. If Salmonella enteritidis is detected, it will lead to the producer testing 4,000 eggs from that flock in two-week intervals of 1,000 eggs each or diverting eggs to treatment, such as pasteurization, for the flock’s lifetime.

 

Over the years the lab has tested for Salmonella bacteria in sick mammals and birds and in environmental samples from locations throughout Indiana, being that infection comes from a variety of sources. In this testing, the lab has found SE in samples from various sources and other types of Salmonella infections in animals, said Steve Hooser, director of the state’s Toxicology Section of the laboratory.

 

According to Hooser, the lab is receiving a few dozen environmental samples a week. It has not yet received eggs from producers, but the staff has tested a few “to get the routine down”.

 

A positive test for Salmonella in eggs would require the producer to divert eggs from that flock to treatment for its lifetime or until four egg tests are negative.

 

Paul Brennan, executive vice president of the Purdue-based Indiana State Poultry Association, said the new regulations will require and standardize much of what producers already have done for their own food safety programs or those established by states since Salmonella outbreaks in the late 1980s.

 

Indiana is the third largest egg production state in the nation, with 26 million layer hens.

 

Producers have been fighting Salmonella by voluntarily taking such steps like disinfecting poultry houses and intensifying rodent and pest control programs, Brennan said.  Because of that, he does not foresee the rule significantly reducing cases of foodborne illnesses from Salmonella.

 

“I think that a lot of the work to reduce SE in the egg industry is already in place,” Brennan said.

 

Operations with more than 3,000 layers but less than 50,000 have an additional two years to comply with the new rule. The FDA said that farms larger than that must comply first because they produce 71 percent of the eggs sold to consumers, and it is economically more feasible for them to adopt the regulations.

 

Exempt from testing are farms with fewer than 3,000 layers and those that sell all of their eggs directly to consumers. These operations, typically family farms and farmers markets, represent only about 1 percent of the market.

 

The rule also sets refrigeration requirements for holding and transporting eggs.

 

Hooser believes egg producers are committed to providing a safe product in the best interests of consumers and because the presence of Salmonella could cost them hundreds of thousands of dollars in replacing hens and ridding the poultry houses of contamination.

 

“They are the most interested people in terms of having Salmonella-free eggs,” he said. “It is a huge commitment for them. They are concerned.”