Salmonella workshops

Foodwise issue 37, June 2015

The Food Authority works in partnership with industry and local councils to deliver programs that raise awareness of the risk of Salmonella outbreaks linked to eggs, and to also introduce interventions aimed at reducing the number of outbreaks occurring.

As a result, in contrast to previous years, 2014/15 data (to date) shows a downward trend in the overall size of Salmonella outbreaks linked to eggs.

Of these, the largest outbreaks have been attributed to cross contamination and hygiene breaches.

However, the Food Authority continues to investigate multiple Salmonella outbreaks involving raw egg foods.

In late March, the Food Authority supported the Australian Egg Corporation Limited (AECL) in hosting two Salmonella workshops in NSW – one for industry and one for government agencies, summarising the current state of knowledge of Salmonella and egg farms

The workshops highlighted the risk of egg washing where this is not undertaken correctly, or not consistently monitored for effectiveness. The workshop also provided background on peak shedding periods for Salmonella in birds during times of stress. Feedback from attendees was universally positive and the Food Authority is planning to build on the success of the AECL workshop by planning a review of Salmonella management activities and also look to undertake joint research programs with AECL.