Health Canada Publishes New Guidance for Reducing the Risk of Salmonella Enteritidis in Shell Eggs
Posted: January 8, 2014
Categories: Food in the News
Image courtesy of K. Cronin.
The guidance document, Health Canada Guidance on Reducing the Risk of Salmonella Enteritidis in Shell Eggs Produced in Canada, was recently released by Health Canada, Bureau of Microbial Hazards, Food Directorate, Health Products and Food Branch. The guidance is a joint effort between Health Canada, the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) and the Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC). Health Canada is expecting industry associations and marketing boards to take an active role in communicating the guidance, and is intended to result in common requirements for all table eggs (i.e., eggs for consumption), including imports, sold in Canada.
The guidance document outlines best practices for stakeholders involved in table egg production. It is meant to provide intervention strategies to reduce the risk of foodborne illness from the consumption of shell eggs produced by domestic hens, due to the pathogen Salmonella enterica subspecies enterica serovar Enteritidis.
According to the document, Salmonella can contaminate the exterior of egg shells (horizontal transmission), and can enter the interior through cracks or if proper timing, temperature and/or egg-washing protocol are not followed. Because infected laying hens may not show signs of infection, the document further indicates that S. Enteritidis contamination can result from “trans-ovarian deposition” (vertical transmission), or contamination from infected reproductive tissues of laying hens.
The guidance document also reports that people are more likely to become ill from infected eggs consumed in an institutional setting; with the immune-compromised, the elderly and the very young at higher risk of becoming ill when consuming contaminated eggs. The intention of the guide is to both reduce egg contamination and to decrease the number of illnesses per contaminated egg. Development of the document was based on the assessment of risk-management strategies, which would reduce illness in the Canadian population, such as: flock vaccination; flock testing and diverting; replacement of eggs with pasteurized egg products in the institutional setting; reduction of raw or slightly cooked egg meals in institutions and homes; and improvements in the storage and handling of eggs.
Twenty recommendations were developed for:
- egg- and meat-type chicken breeding, chick, pullet, laying flock and molting flock stages;
- environmental testing sampling protocol and methodology;
- positive test results for Salmonella Enteritidis;
- the practice of HACCP* principles, based on farm-food safety;
- vaccination;
- imported, surplus or unregulated small producers’ eggs;
- grading and tracking of eggs;
- cracked eggs;
- refrigeration;
- and eggs sent for pasteurization.
The guidance may be used to assess compliance with best agricultural practice, specifically Section 4 and Section 7 of the Canadian Food and Drugs Act, as well as the Canadian Egg Regulations, which is under the authority of Canadian Agricultural Products Act. At this point, the guidance is a consensus-based standard that the industry could adopt voluntarily with future regulatory support, if needed.
Electronic copies of the document can be obtained by emailing the publication office: publications@hc-sc.gc.ca. Please use the subject heading: HPFB BMH Guidance Salmonella Enteritidis Shell Eggs. Digital copies must be sought individually, and cannot be republished by Sustain Ontario.
*Hazard Analysis Critical Control Point principles, renamed Start Clean – Stay CleanTM
Source: © All rights reserved. Health Canada’s Guidance on Reducing Risk of Salmonella Enteritidis in Shell Eggs Produced in Canada. Health Canada, 2013. Reproduced with permission from the Minister of Health, 2013.