A salmonella scare which sparked a widespread national recall of eggs is an “isolated outbreak” according to an industry group which insists the majority of products are still safe to eat.
Spokesman John Coward said from time-to-time salmonella may be present in eggs given all warm-blooded animals can carry the bacteria in their intestines.
“If varying strains of salmonella are present, in this case we have quite a nasty one, then the chance of it getting through a very small percentage and contaminating some eggs is there and that’s what happened,” he said on ABC radio on Friday.
“We are seeing an isolated outbreak. But there was an outbreak in NSW late last year.”
Some egg brands have been recalled across Victoria, NSW, Tasmania and South Australia after positive tests from the Bridgewater farm and numerous cases of salmonella enteritidis.
Symptoms include fever, headache, diarrhoea, abdominal pain and nausea, and usually start six to 72 hours after eating the contaminated food and can last up to a week.
“It is like an exotic pest, it’s the cane toad of salmonella,” Victoria’s Chief Health Officer Brett Sutton said on Thursday.
The company’s free-range and barn-laid eggs are packaged as Woolworths brand, Victorian Fresh, and Loddon Valley, with best-before dates ranging from March 20 to April 29.
The eggs should be destroyed.
An investigation is underway to reveal links between the Victorian and NSW outbreaks and quarantine measures are in place at the Bridgewater farm where thousands of infected hens are expected to be destroyed.
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