September 3, 2010 | 3:04 pm

Salmonella Sunny Side Up

Posted by Albert Fuchs, M.D.

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This summer a Salmonella outbreak traced to contaminated eggs has sickened over 1,000 people and led to the recall of over 500 million eggs.

Eggs are particularly susceptible to Salmonella contamination.  The outsides of egg shells can be contaminated by bacteria if they come into contact with chicken droppings or with dirt.  That’s why you should discard cracked or dirty eggs.  The shell itself is fairly resistant to bacteria, but if the chicken is infected with Salmonella then the eggs it produces will contain Salmonella also, inside the shell.

The risk of getting sick is decreased substantially by safe food procedures that kill Salmonella or inhibit its growth.  Eggs should be kept refrigerated at all times.  Eggs should be cooked thoroughly so that the whites and yolk are solid.  And eggs should be eaten promptly after they are cooked.

Check out the tips from the Centers of Disease Control (link below) for more simple suggestions to avoid a Salmonella side dish.

Learn more:

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention:  Tips to Reduce your Risk of Salmonella from Eggs

Wall Street Journal article:  Eggs’ ‘Grade A’ Stamp Isn’t What It Seems

Tangential miscellany:

Happy Labor Day and l’shanna tova!  There won’t be a post next week, but your appetite for health-related news will again be sated the week after that.

Important legal mumbo jumbo:
Anything you read on the web should be used to supplement, not replace, your doctor’s advice.  Anything that I write is no exception.  I’m a doctor, but I’m not your doctor despite the fact that you read or comment on my posts.  Leaving a comment on a post is a wonderful way to enter into a discussion with other readers, but I will not respond to comments (just because of time constraints).