Colorado Reader 01/2016 | Page 6

Eggsploring Food Safety Practice cleanliness . . . • Wash hands in hot, soapy water before handling food. Wash counter tops, utensils and equipment that have been in contact with raw food before using them again. • Use separate cutting boards and knives for raw and cooked foods. Wash them thoroughly with hot, soapy water after each use. • Throw away eggs that are dirty, cracked, broken or leaking. Eggs do not need to be washed – they have been washed and sanitized before they are packed. • Don’t use an egg’s shell to separate contents. Use an egg separator to separate whites and yolks. Use a clean utensil to remove any shell from an egg mixture. Salmonella is a common microbe found around food. In large numbers, it will make people sick. Salmonella will not grow at temperatures below 40°F. This is why refrigeration of eggs and other foods is a very important part of food safety. The danger zone for food is between 40° and 140°F. These temperatures are ideal for rapid Salmonella growth. Freezing does not kill Salmonella but does stop growth. On average, only one out of 20,000 commercially produced eggs in the U.S. might contain the Salmonella bacteria. Cooking eggs thoroughly where both the yolk and white are firm, not runny, is the best method of preventing bacteria that can make people sick. Biosecurity Biosecurity is the term used in agriculture for steps a farmer or rancher might use to protect their animals and the food supply. A successful biosecurity program on an egg farm takes steps to ensure that there is no introduction or transfer of diseases into or among poultry houses. Biosecurity measures producers take include: • Limit visitors on the farm and in the poultry houses; • Protect against cross contamination when equipment is moved and people travel between and among poultry houses; • Prevent stray poultry, wild birds, cats, rodents and other animals from entering poultry houses; • Don’t allow employees to keep birds at home. For more information, go to:www.eggsafety.org. In the spring of 2015 wild birds migrating north carried with them Avian Influenza (AI.) This disease spreads rapidly through birds. Chickens and turkeys along the major migration route contracted the disease. More than 40 million chickens and turkeys died. This caused a temporary shortage of eggs. Working with state and federal governments, farmers have increased biosecurity on their farms and have put into place increased monitoring and systems for handling disease outbreaks. The Center for Disease Control (CDC) considers the risk to people from the virus to be low as AI cannot be transmitted through properly cooked eggs. Additionally, the strains of this disease are not transmissible to humans and no human infection with these viruses have been detected. 6 www.growingyourfuture.com