Great analysis at Slate.com explaining the inadequate food safety oversight of the egg industry:
Historically, eggs have fallen into the cracks between animal and food products and the federal divisions that regulate each. The U.S. Department of Agriculture oversees our animals and plants, while the Food and Drug Administration is charged with monitoring our food. But what about hens who are raised to produce eggs for human consumption? Bacteria have crept into this no-man’s bureaucratic land, infecting live chickens and then coating the surface of the eggs they produce.
The article also makes a point, too often neglected by the media, that will be music to animal advocates’ ears:
Cooking an egg fully may kill the bacteria and protect your intestines, and screening for salmonella may keep it from getting onto your egg in the first place, but far more fundamental is the need to improve the conditions where the egg is laid.
and:
The USDA has been completely ineffective at keeping our hens healthy. Now it’s the FDA’s turn. The concept of food begins with live animals. In order to protect our stomachs, we must first protect our chickens.
This is far and away the most intelligent analysis of the current egg recall that I’ve seen, and it’s exactly the sort of piece the animal advocacy community needs to disseminate.
Looks like the truth about egg safety is finally being understood outside the animal advocacy community. Link.
