Governor George E. Pataki, State Agriculture and Markets Commissioner Donald R. Davidsen and State Health Commissioner Barbara A. DeBuono, M.D. today announced the New York State Egg Quality Assurance Program, an innovative series of management, surveillance and product handling measures designed to enhance quality and safety in eggs produced by New York State farmers.

"This program will help assure consumers that New York State eggs are safe and wholesome," Governor Pataki said. "This program not only protects New York consumers, but also consumers in markets where New York farmers export their eggs."

The program is a joint effort between the State Department of Agriculture and Markets, the State Department of Health and the State Poultry Industry Coordinated Effort (SPICE) to ensure safe and wholesome eggs in New York State. The program was ratified during a signing ceremony today at Hudson Egg Farm in Elbridge, New York.

"Producers participating in this model program should be commended for going to considerable expense and effort to ensure consumer safety," Commissioner Davidsen said. "New York is only one of a handful of states in the nation to adopt this kind of program. It’s the wave of the future in food safety."

Said Commissioner DeBuono: "This egg testing and quality assurance program represents a scientific and collaborative model for controlling Salmonella enteritidis food-borne illness at its source. We are very pleased that, thanks to this agreement, New Yorkers will have an extra measure of protection against food-borne infection."

Kurt Kreher, an egg producer from Clarence, New York, and president of SPICE, New York State’s poultry association, said: "We’re pleased to have developed a program together with the State which will provide assurance to our customers that New York-produced eggs are not only the freshest eggs in the store, but also the safest. We hope that consumers will recognize that we are using the latest accepted procedures to assure the safety and wholesomeness of the eggs we produce."

The program aims to prevent Salmonella enteritidis from contaminating eggs. To do this, the program:

• requires testing of chickens and their environment for bacteria presence
• requires intensive pest control at the farm level
• requires a farm bio-security plan, preventing contamination from outside sources, and
• requires eggs be continuously refrigerated from the farm to the store shelf

Consumers will soon see labels on egg cartons identifying participating producers in the quality Assurance Program. The program becomes effective immediately.

1997 Press Releases