Eggs, Eggs, and More Eggs. The FDA's Power Grab?

[Obama 2012 1,714]

More and more I'm seeing the FDA come out in different instances and ask for more power.

There's a huge part of me that is calling BS on this whole egg thing as more of a False Flag. A created problem quite possibly so the FDA can grab hold of even more power over our food supply.

If the FDA has full control over even the most basic of foods then we are in for a ######-storm of trouble with the power this government already likes to grab.

Let's be honest on something like this as well. As with any situation like this, if you cook things fully, then this is a non-issue!!!

I don't know. Screwed up thing happen and certain companies should be looked into, but for the FDA to try and make a full power grab over the industry. I smell poo all over it.

Of course I'm sure there's some of you who believe so much in your government and don't think it's at all bad for htem to have complete control over the food supply. I mean after all. Government is awesome and good and would never do us harm.

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http://finance.yahoo.com/news/FDA-commissioner-says-agency-apf-380640816.html?x=0

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Food and Drug Administration chief Margaret Hamburg said Monday her agency is limited by law to a mostly reactive stance on food safety and argued that it needs a more "preventive approach."

Giving a series of network interviews in the wake of the egg and salmonella breakout, Hamburg said the FDA is taking the issue "very, very seriously." At the same time, she said Congress should pass pending legislation that would provide her agency with greater enforcement power, including new authority over imported food.

"We need better abilities and authorities to put in place these preventive controls and hold companies accountable," Hamburg said as she discussed the approximately 1,300 cases of salmonella poisoning and the recall of roughly a half-billion eggs from two Iowa egg distributors.

She also had some practical advice for consumers: Reject over-easy eggs. She said that as federal investigators continue their work with the companies involved, consumers should strictly avoid "runny egg yolks for mopping up with toast."

Two Iowa farms linked to the disease outbreak -- Wright County Egg and Hillandale Farms -- share suppliers of chickens and feed as well as ties to an Iowa business with a history of violating state and federal law.

The number of illnesses, which can be life-threatening, especially to those with weakened immune systems, is expected to increase. The most common symptoms are diarrhea, abdominal cramps and fever eight to 72 hours of eating a contaminated product.

Jewanna Porter, a spokeswoman for the egg industry, said Saturday the company Quality Egg supplies young chickens and feed to both Wright County Egg and Hillandale Farms. The two share other suppliers, she said, but she did not name them.

The egg industry has consolidated over recent years, placing fewer, larger businesses in control over much of the nation's egg supply to consumers.

The salmonella outbreak has raised questions about federal inspections of egg farms. The FDA oversees inspections of shell eggs, while the Agriculture Department is in charge of inspecting other egg products.

William D. Marler, a Seattle attorney for a person who filed suit alleging illness from tainted eggs in a salad at a restaurant in Kenosha, Wis., said Sunday his firm has been retained by two dozen families and was representing a woman who was hospitalized in California.

Businessman Austin "Jack" DeCoster owns Wright County Egg and Quality Egg. Wright County Egg recalled 380 million eggs Aug. 13 after it was linked to more than 1,000 cases of salmonella poisoning. A week later, Hillandale Farms recalled 170 million eggs.

DeCoster's companies have a long history of problems:

--In 1994, the state of Iowa assessed at least four separate penalties against DeCoster Farms for environmental violations, many of them involving hog waste.

--In 1997, DeCoster Egg Farms agreed to pay $2 million in fines to settle citations brought in 1996 for health and safety violations at DeCoster's farm in Turner, Maine. The nation's labor secretary at the time, Robert Reich, said conditions were "as dangerous and oppressive as any sweatshop." Reich's successor, Alexis Herman, called the state of the farms "simply atrocious," citing unguarded machinery, electrical hazards, exposure to harmful bacteria and other unsanitary conditions.

--In 2000, Iowa designated DeCoster a "habitual violator" of environmental regulations for problems that included hog manure runoff into waterways. The label made him subject to increased penalties and prohibited him from building new farms.

--In 2002, the federal Equal Employment Opportunity Commission announced a more than $1.5 million settlement of an employment discrimination lawsuit against DeCoster Farms on behalf of Mexican women who reported they were subjected to sexual harassment, including rape, abuse and retaliation by some supervisory workers at DeCoster's Wright County plants.

--In 2007, 51 workers were arrested during an immigration raid at six DeCoster egg farms. His farms had been the subject of at least three previous raids.

--In June 2010, Maine Contract Farming, the successor company to DeCoster Egg Farms, agreed in state court to pay $25,000 in penalties and to make a one-time payment of $100,000 to the Maine Department of Agriculture over animal cruelty allegations that were spurred by a hidden-camera investigation by an animal welfare organization.

In a statement Sunday, Wright County Egg spokeswoman Hinda Mitchell said the company had reacted quickly in the past to correct its operations when "issues have been raised about our farms."

"We are approaching our work with FDA in the same forthright manner," she said.

The FDA investigation could take months, and sources of contamination are often difficult to find.

The CDC said last week that investigations by 10 states since April have identified 26 cases where more than one person became ill. Preliminary information showed that Wright was the supplier in at least 15 of those cases.

Hamburg appeared Monday on ABC's "Good Morning America," CBS's "The Early Show," and NBC's "Today" show.

[Nina~ 431]

So you'd rather trust a big corporation with your food supply? You really think that big businesses have your best interests at heart while they are trying to make a profit?

In this case, I'd rather that government take charge of things and make sure companies follow the proper regulations for public safety. I personally know people who have been sickened recently by these eggs, and I am grateful none of them died.

[Obama 2012 1,714]

So you'd rather trust a big corporation with your food supply? You really think that big businesses have your best interests at heart while they are trying to make a profit?

In this case, I'd rather that government take charge of things and make sure companies follow the proper regulations for public safety. I personally know people who have been sickened recently by these eggs, and I am grateful none of them died.

Those people you know personally are idiots for not cooking their eggs properly. It's really that simple.

I'd trust the local farmer over the government any day of the week.

[Amby 490]

Those people you know personally are idiots for not cooking their eggs properly. It's really that simple.

I'd trust the local farmer over the government any day of the week.

how do you eat your eggs?

[Nina~ 431]

Those people you know personally are idiots for not cooking their eggs properly. It's really that simple.

Undercooked eggs are used for a ton of things like custard, mayonnaise, sauces, salad dressing, etc. You'd be surprised to find the number of food items in restaurants/bakeries that use undercooked or raw eggs. Your assumption of "not cooking their eggs properly" is just silly!

I'd trust the local farmer over the government any day of the week.

How naive!

[Obama 2012 1,714]

How naive!

You trust a government worker over a local farmer? and you call me naive?

[Amby 490]

Undercooked eggs are used for a ton of things like custard, mayonnaise, sauces, salad dressing, etc. You'd be surprised to find the number of food items in restaurants/bakeries that use undercooked or raw eggs. Your assumption of "not cooking their eggs properly" is just silly!

that's what I was getting at when I asked how he eats his eggs. they actually start to turn green if you cook them to the national restaurant association recommended temperature ever see the yolk on an "overcooked" hard boiled egg? ughhh.

seriously paul there's tons of things with "raw" eggs in them. all the restaurants I've worked at use pasteurized eggs when they use them "raw" in things

Whole Eggs Pasteurized in the Shell - Traditionally, eggs sold to customers in the shell have not been pasteurized. However, new time/temperature pasteurization methods are making this possible. Egg whites coagulate at 140°F (60°C). Therefore, heating an egg above 140°F would cook the egg, so processors pasteurize the egg in the shell at a low temperature, 130°F (54°C), for a long time, 45 minutes. This new process is being used by some manufacturers, but it is not yet widely available. Pasteurizing eggs reduces the risk of contamination from pathogenic bacteria, such as Salmonella, which can cause severe illness and even death. Pasteurized eggs in the shell may be used in recipes calling for raw eggs, such as Caesar salad, hollandaise or bé arnaise sauces, mayonnaise, egg nog, ice cream, and egg-fortified beverages that are not thoroughly cooked.

http://www.foodsafetysite.com/educators/competencies/general/foodprocessing/processing2.html

[HAL 9000 96]

Those people you know personally are idiots for not cooking their eggs properly. It's really that simple.

I'd trust the local farmer over the government any day of the week.

Salmonella and its toxic metabolites tend to survive most egg preparations.

[Nina~ 431]

You trust a government worker over a local farmer? and you call me naive?

The "local farmer" is actually a corporation called Hillendale Farms. Unlike giant farm corporations, FDA does not make a profit from cutting costs by cutting corners and disregarding safe practices.

[Heracles 417]

Ah Paul you crack me up with these things. Time and time you ignore the actual perpetrator and blame the government. These recalls barely occur in other first world countries because their equivalent government departments have the tools actually do their job.

The owner of these farms was already fined for massive breaches and animal cruelty in other states. Due to the FDA's lack of authority, they were not able to investigate the rest of his farms.

Mr. DeCoster is well known to federal regulators.

In 1997, one of his companies agreed to pay a $2 million fine by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration for violations in the workplace and worker housing. Officials said workers were forced to handle manure and dead chickens with their bare hands and to live in trailers infested with rats. The labor secretary in the Clinton administration, Robert B. Reich, called Mr. DeCoster’s operation “an agricultural sweatshop.”

Mr. DeCoster’s facilities have also been periodically raided by immigration officials. In 2003, Mr. DeCoster pleaded guilty to charges of knowingly hiring immigrants who were in the country illegally and he paid more than $2 million as part of a federal settlement.

Mr. DeCoster was also charged by Iowa authorities in the 1990s with violations of environmental rules governing hog manure runoff.

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/08/19/business/19eggs.html?_r=1

[Dan J 277]

You trust a government worker over a local farmer? and you call me naive?

How many "local farmers" are left anymore?

We have industrialized food production so much, that a problem that could have affected a small number of people, can now affect thousands across a large area.

[Heracles 417]

You trust a government worker over a local farmer? and you call me naive?

This isn't Europe, Australia etc, the local farmer days are gone here. It's all big business and crapmart style organizations that have cut cut cut from everything. First it started with products and now it's gone into your food supply. Food safety and quality has taken a massive hit. Without a doubt, there is a noticeable difference in food quality for me from abroad, where food is not mass produced like some production line. Where animals are not treated and housed in a manner equivalent to some Chinese factory.

Have you seen Food Inc? Please don't pull a pike and claim the source is biased, therefore, somehow invalid.When it comes to my health and my life, ideological politics goes out the window. Especially when someone is making a profit while people are getting sick.

[Nina~ 431]

Here is a short list of food with raw or undercooked eggs:

• Cake batter

• Cookie dough

• Some ice creams

• Steak tartare

• Caesar dressing

• Bearnaise sauce

• Hollandaise

• Homemade mayonnaise

• Aoli

• Eggnog

• Mousse

• Egg white cocktails like a Ramos Gin Fizz

• Tiramisu

• Meringue

[Obama 2012 1,714]

How many "local farmers" are left anymore?

We have industrialized food production so much, that a problem that could have affected a small number of people, can now affect thousands across a large area.

Come to Texas, there are plenty that aren't part of corporate America.

[Amby 490]

Here is a short list of food with raw or undercooked eggs:

• Cake batter

• Cookie dough

• Some ice creams

• Steak tartare

• Caesar dressing

• Bearnaise sauce

• Hollandaise

• Homemade mayonnaise

• Aoli

• Eggnog

• Mousse

• Egg white cocktails like a Ramos Gin Fizz

• Tiramisu

• Meringue

most of the time those things are made with pasteurized eggs to try to kill more germies