NEWS Update:
Check your eggs!

In case you haven’t heard, Woolworths and Coles stores from Victoria, New South Wales, Tasmania and South Australia had been selling eggs infected with salmonella. 9News reported Bridgewater Poultry, a Victorian poultry farm, had been distributing these eggs and is under investigation.

Salmonella infection is a common bacterial disease that affects the intestinal tract. It is commonly associated with food poisoning and the sickness can last 24-72 hours. Usually risk of salmonella is significantly lower when eggs are cooked. Raw eggs should definitely not be consumed as the risk of salmonella is greatly increased.

The following egg products are being recalled:

• Woolworths 12 Cage Free Eggs 700g
• Victorian Fresh Barn Laid Eggs 600g
• Victorian Fresh Barn Laid Eggs 700g
• Victorian Fresh Barn Laid Eggs 800g
• Loddon Valley Barn Laid 600g
• Affected eggs have best-before dates of March 20, March 23, March 27, March 30, April 3, April 6, April 10, April 14, April 17, April 20, April 24, April 27, April 29

(Loddon Valley Eggs, 2019).

What is being done now?

Due to the seriousness of this case, many egg farms are having to cull their chickens to ensure the spread of salmonella is stopped. Coles and Woolworths are also urging anyone who has any of the recalled products to return them as soon as possible and not feed them to people or animals.

What should store owners do?

If you are a store owner, it is safe to purchase eggs now. The threat has been removed but it is now more important than ever to be following correct hygiene procedures. Do not keep any cracked or dirty eggs. For the storage of your current eggs make sure they’re being refrigerated at 4°C or colder at all times. To ensure your eggs are always being stored at a safe temperature, make sure all of your temperature monitoring systems are in working condition. SQUIZIFY can provide your store with this technology, which comes with live sync reports at any moment from anywhere.

Get in touch with us if you would like to know how we can save your eggs and ultimately your business.

Benjamin Ansell. (2019, March 21). Possible Salmonella Contamination of Eggs. 9News. Retrieved from: https://www.9news.com.au/national/news-australia-possible-salmonella-contamination-of-eggs/7629d26d-810a-41a2-affe-18c0ca684abf

Loddon Valley Eggs. (2019). MEDIA STATEMENT: PRODUCT RECALL. Retrieved from: https://www.loddonvalleyeggs.com.au/pdf/Media-Statement-Product-Recall-21-03-2019.pdf