Egg recall over salmonella contamination fears

The New South Wales Food Authority has issued a recall on several batches of egg following fears of Salmonella Enteritidis (SE) contamination.

The recall includes eggs under the Egg Basket umbrella of brands, including Just Eggs, Country Fresh Eggs, Chefs Choice Free Range and Chefs Choice Cage Free eggs, with use by dates from the 14th of June to the 9th of July of this year. The affected eggs were sold directly from The Egg Basket business in Kemps Creek, and at the Flemington Markets in NSW.

Peak industry body Australian Eggs is working closely with authorities to respond to the recent series of SE incidents detected on eleven egg farms in New South Wales and one in Victoria, with all sites quarantined and having undergone decontamination.

“ Salmonella Enteritidis is a new and unique bacteria for us in Australia and responding to the threat has been a learning experience for both government and industry,” says Australian Eggs’ Managing Director, Rowan McMonnies. “Risks are driven by biosecurity practices and farm management and it is these issues that are the focus of our response.”

The first detection of SE was in NSW in September 2018, and since then, more detections have occurred because of a targeted program of testing and surveillance process conducted by government authorities.

“This process has ensured that when SE has emerged it has been caught early and the public and broader industry were protected,” says McMonnies. “All the contaminated sites have been detected through this process and they continue to be limited to a cluster of interconnected farms.”

Egg farmers in Australia now face the cost of even higher biosecurity measures, which could leave many of the contaminated farms unable to recover, according to McMonnies.

Consumers who may have purchased the eggs are advised they should not eat the eggs and to dispose of them in the garbage or return them to the place of purchase for a full refund.

You can find out more about Salmonella Enteritidis and the egg industry’s response to it at the Australian Eggs website.