PULLETS
LAYERS
EGGS
FORCE MOLTED FLOCKS
RODENT CONTROL
BIO-SECURITY
REFRIGERATION
Processing Plant
Participating producers and processors are:
What Regulatory Officials Say
In a 15 member Review Team Report by the Food and Drug Administration, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and USDA dated January 18, 1997 it was stated: “PEQAP can serve as a prototype for the egg industry in the development of egg quality assurance programs and the industry should adopt quality assurance programs based on interventions developed in the Pennsylvania Pilot Project and used in the Pennsylvania Egg Quality Assurance Program (PEQAP).
Statement of Purpose
The Pennsylvania Egg Quality Assurance Program (PEQAP) is a voluntary industry program intended to minimize Salmonella enteritidis (SE) contamination of chicken (shell) eggs. Although this program does not guarantee shell eggs to be free of SE contamination, the program does assure commitment of the producer and processor to implementation of those management and monitoring practices most likely to prevent SE contamination. Basic preventive measures include placement of SE clean chicks, intensive rodent control, cleaning and disinfecting between flocks, and environmental monitoring of pullet and layer houses with continuous testing of eggs from any environmentally positive houses. Positive eggs are diverted for pasteurization. Eggs must be kept refrigerated. The Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture provides oversight, technical, administrative, and financial support to this program. The Pennsylvania Department of Health provides technical advice regarding public health implications. PEQAP participants are assuring the public that they are taking every reasonable precaution to assure the safety of shell eggs.
STATEMENT BY R.W. SAUDER EGGS REGARDING NEW FDA PUBLIC HEALTH REGULATIONS TO REDUCE SALMONELLA ILLNESSES
Our family egg farmers support practices that assure egg safety and reduce illness due to Salmonella Enteritidis. Food safety and consumer health and well-being are paramount for the egg industry, and Sauder’s Egg farmers are dedicated to producing safe, nutritious and affordable food. Sauder’s Egg farmers will work closely with the FDA to ensure that the regulations announced this week are being met.
Egg farmers that produce eggs for Sauder’s have followed many of the practices required by the new regulation for many years and provided suggestions for the new regulations. In fact, we have employed these and similar practices for almost twodecades. Over that time, outbreaks of Salmonellosis in humans attributed to eggs have steadily decreased as have findings of Salmonella Enteritidis in the thousands of samples taken at our egg farms and from eggs, demonstrating the effectiveness of these food safety procedures.
While Salmonella illness is rarely caused by an egg, it is important to note that consumers are urged to use proper food safety practices. Important food safety reminders include:
COMPARISON BETWEEN R.W. SAUDER, INC. FOOD SAFETY PROGRAM AND FDA SE RISK REDUCTION PROGRAMS
Testing or Procedure | R.W. Sauder | FDA |
Chicks
|
From NPIP SE Clean breeders
|
From NPIP SE Clean breeders
|
Pullet testing
|
10 to 12 weeks
|
14 to 16 weeks
|
Requirements for SE + pullet manure |
Manure tests of layers after housing |
Egg testing of 4 sets of 1000 eggs at 2 week intervals
|
Layer testing
|
30w,45w, and at 50% after molt |
40w and 4-6 weeks after molt completion
|
Requirements for SE + layer manure
|
1000 egg at 2 week intervals, 4 submissions |
1000 egg at 2 week intervals, 4 submissions
|
Diversion to pasteurization required for egg + flocks
|
Yes
|
Yes
|
Return to shell market allowed |
Yes after a completed set of 4 submissions of 1000 eggs at 2 week intervals
|
Yes after a completed set of 4 submissions of 1000 eggs at 2 week intervals
|
Egg testing after initial egg test set
|
1000 eggs every quarter
|
None if negative first set; once a month if were previously egg positive
|
C & D of manure or egg + houses
|
Wet or dry cleaning
|
Wet or dry cleaning
|
Vaccination required
|
Only if using dry cleaning option
|
None
|
Biosecurity plan
|
Not Required
|
Required
|
Rodent Control Plan and Records
|
Required
|
Required
|
Fly Control Plan and Records
|
Not Required
|
Required
|
Egg cooling
|
45° F. after processing, 55° F. prior to processing
|
45° F. after 36 hours post collection |