Old Eggs in New Wrappers Would Be Barred by USDA

Companies would no longer be allowed to repackage old eggs and put them back on grocery store shelves if the eggs carry the U.S. Agriculture Department’s seal of approval, the USDA proposed Tuesday.

In the latest in a series of efforts to curtail bacterial illnesses linked to eggs, the Clinton administration also proposed prohibiting the department’s seal on eggs laid more than 15 days before they were packed.

“We want to be absolutely certain that the USDA shield provides the best available assurance of shell egg quality to the consumer,” Kathleen Merrigan, administrator of the department’s Agricultural Marketing Service, said in a statement.

But food safety advocates said the proposals have too many loopholes and should extend beyond USDA-graded eggs, which account for about one-third of the eggs consumed in the United States.

In April 1998, the government temporarily suspended the practice of repackaging eggs that were shipped for retail sale but were returned to the processor. The action followed news reports that producers were exploiting the practice by selling old eggs. The latest proposal would make that ban permanent.

The latest announcement came less than a month after the administration proposed putting labels on eggs warning consumers to stop eating them sunny side up and to cook them thoroughly to avoid food poisoning.

Ken Klippen, a spokesman for the United Egg Producers, said the industry supports the Agriculture Department’s ban on repackaging eggs. “The law will make official that which is already being implemented on a voluntary basis by the egg industry,” he said.

Studies have shown that the older the eggs are, the more likely they are to carry bacteria that can cause deadly illnesses, including salmonella. Salmonella bacteria are carried by about one egg in every 20,000 of the 67 billion eggs consumed in the United States each year.

The bacteria can cause nausea, fever and diarrhea. About 40,000 cases are reported in the United States each year, but the actual number is thought to be much higher, because many cases go unreported or undiagnosed. About 100 deaths a year are linked to salmonella from all sources.

The U.S. egg industry estimates the average consumer will encounter a contaminated egg only once in 84 years.

Food safety advocates welcomed the government proposals but said they did not go far enough.

“Both of those steps are very important,” said Caroline Smith-DeWaal, head of food safety for the Center for Science in the Public Interest.

However, “the language isn’t broad enough” because it only applies to USDA-graded eggs, she said. “These improvements in egg safety need to be made across the board, not just [in] voluntary egg programs.”

Under the voluntary grading program, the eggs are packed under the supervision of agency inspectors and must meet the government’s sanitary standards. Packers who do not use the federal grading service are subject to state regulation.