So my eggs got recalled — what does that really mean?
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Late last month, the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) released a recall of eggs for contamination of Salmonella. The recall involved eggs from farms across the country, including products sold by Compliments, no name brand, and Western Family.
The Martlet got the opportunity to sit down with Dr. Stephen Tuffs, assistant professor of biochemistry and microbiology, to talk about salmonella.
Dr. Tuffs has been at UVic for two years, where he leads a team of researchers. His main interest is Staphylococcus aureus, a type of bacteria which is found in hospital settings. The bacteria can cause skin infections and bloodstream infections (commonly known as Staph infections), and is also linked to food poisoning in some instances.
While he and his team are focused on serious blood infections that can happen if you have a Staphylococcus aureus infection, Dr. Tuffs is familiar with other bacterial pathogens too, such as salmonella.
“Salmonella is one of a group of what we call ‘enteric’ pathogens, so these are bacteria that live in the guts of animals, including humans,” he explained. When the bacteria causes an infection in humans, the condition is called “salmonellosis.”
The bacteria is common in chickens, says Tuffs. “They either live in the gut as harmless bacteria, or they can go from chicken to chicken, causing disease.”
It becomes an issue in egg-farmed chickens when the bacteria reaches the reproductive organs. “It gets into the egg as it forms, and then you have an egg with Salmonella in it,” he explained.
When a human eats an infected egg that hasn’t been cooked thoroughly, such as one that’s soft-boiled or in raw dough, they are at risk of developing “acute self-resolving gastroenteritis,” says Dr. Tuffs. That’s the common food-poisoning that we’ve all heard of — diarrhea, vomiting, and sometimes fever.
In a healthy individual, these uncomfortable symptoms should self-resolve, says Tuffs. “The major risk is to pregnant people, immunocompromised, and elderly people,” he added, explaining that these populations are at a greater risk of developing invasive salmonellosis.
“This is where the bacteria escape the gut, and enter sterile regions of the body,” he said. This can damage organs, cause sepsis, and can even harm the fetus of a pregnant person.
Tuffs explained, though, that the risk of catching Salmonella is very low, because of our robust recall systems.
“The Class A branding on eggs means that they’ve gone through testing for various pathogens, including Salmonella,” he said. Since chickens aren’t vaccinated against the disease in North America, eggs are closely monitored for disease.
After an initial test, the CFIA triggers an investigation to find out where the infected eggs came from, and they will issue the recall. “Eggs won’t be allowed to be sent to market until they’ve cleared the Salmonella,” Tuffs added.
The possibility of a delay in testing means that those who are at risk of developing invasive Salmonellosis should be extra careful not to eat raw eggs, he noted. “Cooking is really the best defence against Salmonella.”
In many European countries, chickens are vaccinated against the bacteria. Tuffs says that this might not be the case in Canada because of the incredible cost of this type of preventative medicine.
Tuffs emphasized that this most recent recall is a sign that the system is working. He says that it appears the bacteria was detected through testing alone, before anyone reported a case of food poisoning.
“Take some heart from this, because it got caught, and the recall was issued,” he said.
