Community Corner

Eggs Safe at Reston Safeway, Other Grocery Stores

Virginia not among states affected by massive recall.

While the huge nationwide egg recall includes some eggs sold under the Safeway brand Lucerne, eggs at Northern Virginia grocery stores are not among the recall.

It is business as usual three of Reston's large grocery stores - South Lakes Safeway and Harris Teeter. The stores' egg cases are stocked and there are signs assuring customers of egg safety

Greg Ten Eyck, director of public affairs for Safeway's Eastern Division, says the recall does not affect stores in the area.

Find out what's happening in Restonwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

"The tainted eggs were isloated to farms in Iowa," he said. "In this part of the country, Lucerne eggs come from two farms in Pennsylvania."

Safeway, Giant and Harris Teeter all have signs posted near the eggs repeating the message that the eggs in stock are safe to eat.

Find out what's happening in Restonwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Says the Harris Teeter sign:  "The recent recall on fresh eggs does not include any of the eggs sold at Harris Teeter.  Please be assured the quality of our eggs are safe."

More than half a billion eggs nationwide have been recalled this month after 1,200 cases of Salmonella in 10 states have been linked to tainted eggs from an Iowa distributor.

The eggs went to distribution companies in 17 states, mostly west of the Mississippi River, but were then sold nationwide. Eggs covered by the expanded recall last week are packaged under the following brand names: Albertsons, Farm Fresh, James Farms, Glenview, Mountain Dairy, Ralphs, Boomsma, Lund, Kemps and Pacific Coast.

The earlier recall was for eggs sold under the brands Lucerne (sold at Safeway), Albertson, Mountain Dairy, Ralphs, Boomsma's, Sunshine, Hillandale, Trafficanda, Farm Fresh, Shoreland, Lund, Dutch Farms and Kemps.

Safeway last week recalled some Lucerne eggs sold at stores in Colorado, California, Wyoming and other Western States.

State and local health departments, assisted by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, are studying cases of salmonella illness in several states to try and determine a link to the eggs.

Maryland is among them but Virginia is not.

Eggs can become infected by the salmonella bacterium by being laid by infected hens, or by contamination during storage or packaging. Hens can pick up salmonella by eating feed contaminated with rodent feces that contains the bacterium. Once infected, they can lay both infected and uninfected eggs. The bacterium appears to be concentrated in the white more than the yolk. Cooking the egg so no liquid remains kills it.

The outbreak occurred just as new federal regulations designed to prevent salmonella contamination of eggs took effect on July 9.

The cases found so far have been in people who became ill after eating eggs at restaurants, said the CDC's Christopher R. Braden,  head of the  division of foodborne diseases. Among the earlier states to investigate such multiple-victim outbreaks were Minnesota, California and Colorado.

The CDCsays there probably are sporadic cases of single illnesses in people who ate eggs at home. Those cases have not been reported and probably never will be. There have been no reports of death.

 For details on how to identify recalled eggs visit the FDA's website

 

 


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