Important albeit slightly disappointing article on the bad press the egg industry has been getting in the wake of this month’s half-billion egg recall. The article uncritically quotes Jeffrey D. Armstrong, mentioning his university ties but neglecting to disclose that he’s also the Chair of the United Egg Producers’ Animal Welfare Advisory Committee. No surprise then that Armstrong offers up a whole lot of doubletalk on the topic of whether battery cages increase salmonella risk:
The bottom line is we don’t know.
Total bullshit, and shame on the Times for not calling him out on it. The bottom line is that we do indeed know—study after study has shown that battery eggs have higher rates of salmonella than eggs from cage-free operations, but sadly, apart from a brief CNN segment with Jane Velez- Mitchell, there has scarcely been any major media coverage that accurately reports on this key issue.
If we do see a major media investigation exploring the link between salmonella and battery cages, it may well spell doom for America’s battery egg industry; already on the ropes due to its rampant mistreatment of animals.
The egg recall currently underway is massive: it covers nearly 1 percent of all eggs produced this year in the United States. So expect more coverage from major media sources about the salmonella question, and next time around perhaps the reporter won’t bungle this key topic.
Last month, the Washington Post reported that each year 142,000 Americans become sick with salmonella infections as a result of eating eggs. With luck, we’ll see coverage this week that blows the lid off the salmonella issue, and consumers will then realize that the battery egg industry cares as little about the public health as it does about its hens. Link.
