This author offered the following post during September of 2008.? The Food and Drug Administration fills 1300 positions. Are consumers safer?? If we were to answer that question today based on the most recent egg recall the answer would be obviously not.

So, I?m reading the Arizona Republic this past Saturday the 28th of August and come across the following article by Mary Clare Jalonick of the Associated Press. FDA to look at egg farms. The sub title was Official: Recall spurring action. You have to be kidding me. The article goes on to say that the Obama administration official says that inspectors will visit 600 large egg farms responsible for production of up to 80% of the nation?s eggs. This should be accomplished by the end of next year. Yes we mean the end of 2012. Snicker ;-(. Well I guess we are safer now.

The question this all begs is what won?t we be looking at while we are so focused on eggs. If we were really concerned, why would we not hire a bunch of new inspectors between now and the end of September of this year and train the during October of this year and then finish the project by the end of this year.. This author bets that you could find enough qualified job seekers to fill and carry out this task. I mean they are going to be following a check list relative to things like refrigeration, sanitation and standard practices. This is not brain surgery.

Hindsight is supposed to always be 20/20. If we visit wiki answers, the statement is defined as meaning that you can look in the past (hindsight) and see what you did wrong. Perfect vision is 20/20. So as you look back, you’re able to see “perfectly” what you should have done. So why does our government keep getting it wrong.

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To this author it does not really matter. What does matter is that you have to be able to trace where the egg came from, what you fed your hens or fertilized your crops with and how the consumable was processed.

?There has been any number of efforts in food industry traceability during the last decade that has resulted in a number of silly naming conventions. You may have heard of a few of them. I guess this means because we have a naming convention that progress is being made.

1.?From the farm to the table.
2.?From the farm to the fork.
3.?From the field to the fork.

In light of the most recent egg recall what on gods green earth is the government doing about building a sustainable and traceable food system. We have this conversation to often and not much happens until the next occurrence.

Product traceability that works would improve the efficiency and speed of response time following a food safety event like our most recent salmonella case. It would also contribute in a significant way to the protection of our public health and help consumer confidence following such an incident. Historically field investigators have been slowed by having to sort through paper reports and documents at numerous locations that are responsible for handing, packing and distributing these products.

Make sure that your procurement solutions provider has a good response relative to how they can help you support traceability in your procurement process.

We look forward to and appreciate your comments.

When I was growing up the choices were not so difficult. My grandfather actually owned a dairy and poultry farm. When I visited the farms there were thousands of laying hens that my dad and grandfather owned. All of the eggs were brown and sometimes dirty before they were processed.

With the most recent salmonella outbreak, it is important to be aware of what you are buying as a consumer and as a retail buyer as well as whom you are buying them from.

There are three grades of eggs sold for the US mass market and each comes in a number of sizes.

1.?U. S. Grade AA Eggs are practically free from defects and have firm yolks, thick whites, and clean and unbroken shells.
2.?U.S. Grade A Eggs are practically free from defects with fairly thick whites, firm yolks, and clean and unbroken shells.
3.?U.S. Grade B Eggs have thinner whites and larger, flatter yolks. The shells cannot be cracked, but they may be stained.

There are however many small farmers in the country that offer their eggs to the local neighborhoods where they live. If I were going to buy eggs from these farmers I would want to visit the farm the see the conditions the chickens live in. If I were a retail buyer, I would absolutely want to do the same thing. This author bets that one is far cleaner than the other.

Make sure your e-procurement provider supports from the farm to the table traceability.

We look forward to and appreciate your comments