By CELESTE BAUMGARTNER
Ohio Correspondent

DUBLIN, Ohio — The Centers for Disease Control has expanded its national egg recall to 550 million eggs. No Ohio farms are involved and there are no salmonella situations in Ohio of which Jim Chakeres, executive vice president of the Ohio Poultry Assoc., is aware.

“For a number of years Ohio has had in place the Ohio Egg Quality Assurance Program, which was a voluntary program set in place as a partnership between the Department of Agriculture, the Department of Health and the egg farmers in Ohio,” Chakeres said. “We look at as many of the different vectors that could introduce the disease. Rodent control is important, knowing where your feed comes from, sourcing pullets or young hens that come from salmonella-free flocks. That type of thing is all important and part of the program.”

The program also examines environmental testing to be certain salmonella is not in the environment. In the rare instance that salmonella is found, follow-up testing is required, Chakeres said. “Cleaning, disinfection, how we handle eggs, how we store them, how we deliver them – all those types of things to make sure that the egg is handled correctly are all part of that program,” he said. “That program is now incorporated into the new FDA (U.S. Food and Drug Administration) egg safety rules; it is something Ohio people have been doing for a long time.”

The incidence of salmonella has been greatly reduced in Ohio because of that program, Chakeres said. However salmonella is opportunistic; like most bacterial conditions, it is around and when the factors are right it tends to flare up.

The important message with most foodborne types of potential illnesses is being certain consumers handle food properly when they buy it, take it home and prepare it.

“Salmonella is one of those organisms which, if they have handled (the food) properly in the home, everything is cooked properly, the incidence is reduced to virtually zero,” Chakeres said.

Proper handling for eggs means refrigerating them. If it’s a hot day and the consumer is more than a half-hour from the store, taking a cooler and ice to store the eggs is a good idea. It is important to keep eggs below 45 degrees Fahrenheit.

“Wash your hands before you handle eggs and once you’re cooking the eggs, make sure you don’t cross-contaminate from shell eggs or meat or produce or anything like that back to a finished cooked product,” Chakeres said.

“Make sure that you cook your eggs to 160 degrees – that will kill any of the organisms that may be there. Properly store your food after you prepare it and after dinner. Any leftovers should not stay out of the refrigerator longer than an hour.

“The egg farmers are out there doing the right thing,” Chakeres said. “The thing about the recall is, it has been put in place and it shows that the process works. If there is a concern. we have mechanisms in place to catch it; I think that is what it important. Everyone should continue to consume eggs (and) do it in a smart way.”

Ohio produces about seven billion eggs a year and is the second largest producer in the country (Iowa is first), in egg production. The estimated retail value is $607 million a year.