>Kelley wrote:
> >
> >
> > salmonella. It's unavoidable because they're chickens for christ's sake and
> > you prevent poisoning by not eating undercooked chicken or raw eggs!
> >
>
>I've assumed for years that my most likely cause of death will be
>salmonella. Who wants to eat fully cooked eggs?
>
>Carrol
Fecal contamination is no longer a problem with eggs. The problem with eggs is transovarian contamination. Chicken ovaries may b/c infected with salmonella enteridis. The bacteria is shed into the egg before the shell is formed. The percentage infected is fairly low, back when I was in the catering biz, and even infected chickens produce mainly uninfected eggs. (1/10,000 eggs)
Salmonella bacteria require favorable temps, moisture, and food to gorw. Temps between 40 - 140 deg F are the danger zone. If you eat boiled eggs, once you've cooked them for five minutes, they're fine, easily 180 deg F internally, and well past the critical 160 def F needed to kill the bacteria. I didn't work as a line cook, so I don't remember much about frying eggs. My guess is that most eggs served "dippy" style are probably cooked enough, given that the chance of infection is incredibly low anyway!
You can also get salmonella from alfalfa sprouts and melons, among other foods that are grown close to the ground and where farmers use organic fertilizers such as chicken shit.
Of course, a bird could just plain shit on your alfalfa sprouts before you top your salad with them, so you're sunk. heh.
kelley