Food poisoning from dodgy "freerange' eggs

A spike in food poisoning as a result of salmonella in eggs is hardly surprising given the intensive stocking densities approved for free range egg production in Australia. So far, politicians and bureaucrats have ignored implications for food safety. Animal health and land sustainability from such high densities. A laying hen produces half a cubic metre of manure a year. So with a stocking density of 10,000 hens per hectare farmers who follow the advice will see their land covered with 5000 cubic metres of manure per hectare every year. As chicken manure has high levels of nitrogen, 1.5%,phosphorus,0.5% and potassium 0.8%, it will likely render the land useless for farming within a few years. Contamination of groundwater and water courses is also likely. But the implications for consumers are also serious with a range of pathogens to which the laying hens are exposed by reckless high density production. Dangerous pathogens include Salmonella, E. coli, Listeria and Campylobacter.