Victorian Egg Farm Recovers from Salmonella Problem

AUSTRALIA - The owners of a western Victorian egg farm are vaccinating birds for the first time, following a salmonella scare last month.
calendar icon 2 April 2014
clock icon 3 minute read

According to ABC, the State Health Department traced the Green Eggs farm, at Great Western, as the alleged source of salmonella and issued a warning against its raw products.

The department yesterday removed the warning, saying the eggs were now safe for consumption.

Owner Alan Green says his company has been washing eggs for the past five weeks.

He says he'll meet with the Department of Environment and Primary Industries next week to find out how long it'll have to keep washing its eggs.

"We're vaccinating birds, which has never been done before for salmonella," Mr Green said.

"We're putting in a rigorous testing program, so we're hoping we can show that the eggs leaving here are salmonella-free without being washed, because the washing just brings up a whole new range of complications with eggs."

Mr Green says he's frustrated with Victoria's Health Department.

"We still to this day have no circumstantial evidence linking us with the eggs," he said.

"We only have verbal advice from the Department of Health and DEPI, but the eggs that were taken from the restaurants and tested. Those results have still not materialised five weeks later."

Victoria's deputy chief health officer, Dr Michael Ackland, says he's satisfied with the changes Green Eggs has made to its egg production process.

He says foods with raw and undercooked eggs - like mayonnaise, aioli, eggnog - have been linked to salmonella.

"The company has worked hard to meet the requirements put in place as a result of the outbreaks, and I am satisfied now that there is no increased risk if eggs supplied by Green Eggs are used in raw-egg products," he said.

"Having said that, people need to be aware of the inherent increased risk of eating foods containing raw or under-cooked eggs from any source."

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