Australian Eggs holds crisis meetings over salmonella

Australian Eggs is desperately trying to restore some consumer confidence in the Egg industry after food poisoning issues from eggs contaminated with salmonella. In an email to members, Australian Eggs says “It is critically important that everyone is aware of the risks and takes the necessary precautions to protect their business and the industry's reputation. In addition to supporting the industry with resources, Australian Eggs is engaging with authorities to ensure any incident response is coordinated and has the benefit of industry input. Australian Eggs has coordinated a meeting next week between egg industry representative bodies and health and agriculture authorities in each state to ensure a productive engagement process can be developed." It’s a pity Australian Eggs allowed this problem to occur by conning politicians into approving a dangerous outdoor stocking density for laying hens. The previous code of practice limited stocking density on free range farms to 1500 hens per hectare but in a profit chase the industry demanded approval for 10,000 hens per hectare – a dangerous and unsustainable figure.