Should the FDA require farmers to vaccinate hens against salmonella? New food safety rules in Senate

Should the FDA require egg producers to vaccinate their hens against salmonella to prevent outbreaks? The FDA estimates farmers would have to spend 14 cents to vaccinate each chicken. That amounts to about $31 million to keep the salmonella from being passed from chicken to egg on the larger farms in the USA.

New food safety bills give the FDA more power to improve safety. Now that the FDA has more authority, who will give the FDA more money for resources? And who will test the flood of imported foods when the FDA runs out of staff time, resources, or money? Are consumer groups being given the runaround?

Vaccine firms report it would only cost a few pennies for each hen to vaccinate them. In the past, the FDA reported that there was not enough scientific evidence to prove that vaccinating hens against salmonella would prevent the bacteria from being passed on to the hens' eggs. After the current outbreak, the FDA may reconsider the issue.

What do you think, should chickens be vaccinated against salmonella? What about other poultry, such as turkeys? Most people don't eat turkey eggs. What about ducks? Some people eat duck, goose, or quail eggs. Even ostrich eggs are sold at Whole Foods Market on Arden Way in Sacramento. The ostrich eggs are in the cooler, priced accordingly, relatively expensive for an egg. But they're large and probably can feed a number of people.

Three companies produce salmonella vaccines for chickens in the USA. One of those companies is Lohmann Animal Health International. The chief executive of that firm was interviewed in a New York Times article, "FDA's safety rules don't require hen vaccinations," reprinted on August 25, 2010, in the Sacramento Bee newspaper. See the August 24, 2010 NY Times article, U.S. Forgoes Salmonella Vaccine for Egg Safety - NYTimes.com. Also see,  News Analysis - Egg Recall Exposes Problems in Food Safety System,  and Could Hen Vaccine Have Prevented Salmonella Outbreak?

You'll notice that Britain had a salmonella problem from eggs more than ten years ago that affected thousands. When farmers began to vaccinate their chickens against salmonella, the problem of salmonella infecting people eating chicken's eggs went away in Britain.

You're not getting that same attitude in the USA, where those in power, such as the FDA, don't require hens to be vaccinated against salmonella. Instead the FDA is supposed to test for contamination. But according to the Sacramento Bee article of August 25, 2010, which reprints the NY Times article by Andrew Martin, "Egg recall reveals safety flaws," the two Iowa farms in question were not inspected. See also, U.S. Forgoes Salmonella Vaccine for Egg Safety - NYTimes.com. Will the situation change?

And why is there so much other food recalls? This year so far, we've had tainted peanuts, burger patties, Romaine lettuce (packaged), and other products recalled. And in prior years there were spinach recalls, pistachio nuts, spices with salmonella infection, meat with E-coli bacteria, and websites set up to announce frequent recalls.

Who do you think should be in charge of testing and inspections--the government and/or private laboratories? And who pays? It turns out no one inspected the Iowa egg farms--not the FDA, and not any private company. Maybe it's time to hire an army of doctor moms to be trained as safety inspectors. Will new food safety laws be put into practice?

New laws are being considered by the Senate. The FDA is looking forward to improvements. The voice in this issue rests with consumer groups. But new egg safety rules have to be written up by scientists. It's the regulators that bicker over who should have the power, the jurisdiction, according to the NY Times article. Unleash the scientists. And weigh in, Senators.

Remember what happened in 1999? Legislators (actually it was then President Clinton) then vowed in 1999 that salmonella in eggs would be eliminated by 2010. Who has the last laugh now, or the "see, I told you so," attitude? The regulations went into effect, in July 2010. But what good did the regulations do? It didn't stop the bacteria from replicating. Is there a safe anti-microbial chicken feed in the house? Just wondering. What do you think should be done to put the rules into effect?

The new rules require large egg producers to buy chicks and hens from suppliers that monitor their birds for salmonella, prevent rodents from defecating on the chicken feed, and other pests from spreading bacteria. Tests would have to be conducted on the chickens for salmonella. Those are the rules. Will they be followed?