Monday, September 13, 2010

Guest Blog: Eggs By The Millions

The following Guest Blog first appeared on Le Blog d'Albert Amgar, a regular feature on ProcessAlimentaire.com, and is reproduced here in English (translation by Phyllis Entis) with the kind permission and cooperation of its author, Albert Amgar.

Eggs By The Millions
(Des oeufs par millions)

One cannot but rejoice at the 17 million eggs that was were donated by a number of countries in support of the struggle against world hunger.

According to the September 13, 2010 issue of World Poultry,

"During the past 12 months, egg farmers from around the globe have donated more than 17 million eggs to international hunger relief charities working in Central America, the Caribbean, Asia, Africa and Europe.

October 8th is World Egg Day, while events are taking place around the globe celebrating the humble egg; its versatility and its many health benefits, millions of undernourished people around the world are receiving help thanks to the generous donations of egg farmers internationally."

This is commendable, and we salute the participants in this initiative. But what should we think of the astronomical quantity of 500 million eggs that were recalled from the market in the United States because of Salmonella contamination – all due to unscrupulous producers who short-changed consumers by pinching pennies on food safety. And let's not forget the roughly 1,519 outbreak victims, reported to CDC for the period ending August 31st.

M. Amgar finishes by referring his readers to the eFoodAlert Consolidated List of Recalled Eggs, and to Doug Powell's barfblog article, Marketing microbial food safety at retail is the only way to provide consumer choice and hold producers accountable.


About Albert Amgar: Albert Amgar lives in Changé near Laval in Mayenne, France. He worked as young scientist at the Parasitology and Tropical Medicine Service of the Pitié Salpétrière Hospital and later spent 12 years in the pharmaceutical industry. In 1989, he became director of a new association of agro-food industrialists named ASEPT in Laval (France). He was the general manager of ASEPT until his retirement.


There are many conscientious, reputable and caring people in the food industry, as demonstrated by the generosity of the egg farmers reported by World Poultry. There also are a few rotten eggs. Unfortunately, the smell produced by those rotten eggs overwhelms the senses and sends a negative message about the safety of the US food supply to consumers in the United States and around the world.

The House of Representative's SubCommittee on Oversight and Investigations has scheduled a hearing into the Salmonella Outbreak and Egg Recall for 11:00 am on September 21st.


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1 comment:

  1. I am very skeptical about where these donated eggs came from. As we have been told, a lot of recalled eggs are going to make it into processed foods and companion animal foods. I wouldn't doubt that some, if not all, the eggs that were donated are those recalled from the Salmonella Outbreak...

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