Buy Organic Eggs to Avoid Salmonella Poisoning? Maybe Not

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Organic free-range chickens are maybee more prone to catch salmonella from the environment, but it's a fact that when they eat grass the coumarin in the grass enhances the resistance against the salmonella bacteria and the bacteria can't survive. So make sure that the chicken eats grass, and the risk of salmonella is very small

F. Jensen 5:28AM August 26, 2010

Salmonella resides in the GI/etc tracts of many birds and animals. Any egg has ALWAYS been a potential source for Salmonella. So no, I would not say organic eggs are necessarily safer. Sure, some cleanliness standards came into play but still.

Anonymous of WI 12:50AM August 26, 2010

JPA: To whom is it known that "factory farms...are known to foster bad things?" I'm asking because it seems to me that either it's known to the author of this article and he also knows that non-industrial farms are more likely to foster bad things, or it isn't known to him. And since you didn't give any evidence I am more likely to trust what the author of this article knows than what you know since I know nothing about you but I do know that at least a few people at usnews trust Deborah Kotz's opinion.
Chris W: I know that your argument is valid, but unfortunately it's valid for every thing. So, for example, even though gravity pulled me down every time I jumped up I can't know that it will do it the next time I jump up. Since I'm not willing to live my life assuming that I'm going to float into space I'm going to continue to trust things that have been true in the past more than I do things that haven't.
Finally, Fred Tedyle: Why is there no need for antibiotics or hormones in organic eggs? It seems to me that since pesticides can kill salmonella, and according to you organic animals can't be given pesticides, that organic animals would be more likely to carry salmonella. Also, while you didn't say it, you seem to be implying that gmo's are bad. This seems like a dangerous thing to think since gmo's produce the insulin that keeps me and probably every other insulin dependent diabetic alive.

Kevin of WI 12:41AM August 26, 2010

"Why would I trust the person who has dedicated their career to the subject, when I could trust you?"
I know, I know. I mean, why *not* trust "experts" with long track records of success? And why *not* trust "experts" who receive countless millions of dollars in grants, endowments and donations to their respective institutions by the very corporations they offer their "expert" advice upon?
Bernard Madoff had a flawless track record going back nearly 50 years. He was one of the most successful money managers in the world over that period of time. Definitely a man who you would want to manage your money!
Enron was a public company since the 70's, was audited by the most trusted of auditors (that would be Arthur Andersen), and maintained relationships with some of the most trusted banks in the world. They were ranked #7 in the Fortune 500 at the end of 2000. They were "experts" in energy trading and had a long track record of success in this area. Profits abounded. So, definitely a company that you should put your life savings into!
Dr. Joseph Biederman was the most respected child psychiatrist in the entire country. A full professor at Harvard, he was also director of the Johnson & Johnson Center for Pediatric Psychopathology Research at Mass General. His long-term track record of success was clear, he was well-respected by his peers, and drug companies and publications everywhere sought his opinions. Here's a man you should certainly trust your kids' mental health to! [See 'Drug Maker Told Studies Would Aid It, Papers Say' in the NYTimes on March 20th, 2009]
I can also mention the many analysts, economists and wide variety of other apologists for Wall Street and the banking community. Too bad I don't have the space here, or the several hours I'd need to list them all. Remember how great transferring trillions of dollars from taxpayers to the largest companies in the world worked out for everyone? Most of those people hold masters degrees and PhDs and they said it was terrific!
Who are we to question them? Who are we to question anyone on TV or in the newspapers who are "experts"?

Chris W. 6:40PM August 25, 2010

Why attack organic un-caged hens?
Because articles like this overlook the facts.
The only way to get organic certification is to feed the hens non-gmo (look up gmo - you eat it everyday) and pesticide free diets and let them roam free.
No need for antibiotics or hormones in organic eggs either.
I am an organic shopper, and I have not been sick from beat up and crammed-in hen's eggs anymore since I have become an organic shopper. I don't have any fear of eggs because I did my research.
Just because someone has a certain title and says I should worry doesn't mean they are more intelligent than me.
Enjoy your gmo soybean meal and gmo corn meal fed chicken eggs and poultry.

Fred Tedyle of NV 6:28PM August 25, 2010

JPA:
I'm sure you know what the research says better than other people. Your associate's degree in Fine Arts from the local community college absolutely makes you more qualified to judge the safety of food than Wiedmann, who is but a lowly Professor of Food Microbiology at Cornell University...
Why would I trust the person who has dedicated their career to the subject, when I could trust you? You, who did some really tough, deep research for, like, at least half an hour on the internet...

AJP of NE 5:14PM August 25, 2010

What is this, a corporate attack on non-industrial food? I'll be sticking to farm stand eggs and organic, thank you very much. Ms. Wiedmann is ambiguous when she states that there is no evidence suggesting that non-industrial eggs "less likely to carry and transmit salmonella to the eggs they lay." Yeah, that completely avoids the question of how salmonella got there in the first place! Factory farms with their overcrowded, disgusting conditions are known to foster bad things like salmonella and E. coli. Do a little more digging, US News.

JPA of LA 4:53PM August 25, 2010

Maybe with all the rampant salmonella it's time to reconsider the 5-second rule for dropped food:
The Egg Recall: Rethinking the 5-Second Rule
http://gigabiting.com/?p=4623/

janice of PA 4:34PM August 25, 2010