Consumer demand for safe eggs has driven retail sales of pasteurized shell eggs up by more than 50% since Aug. 16 when the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) recommended their use to prevent illness from egg-related Salmonella Enteritidis, announced National Pasteurized Eggs (NPE).
New retailers now adding NPE's Davidson's Safest Choice brand of pasteurized shell eggs include Wakefern Food Corp., with ShopRite stores along the East Coast, SaveMart with stores in California and Nevada under the names of Save Mart, S-Mart Foods, Lucky, and FoodMaxx and Hy-Vee stores throughout the Midwest. For a full list of retailers carrying Davidson's Safest Choice eggs, visit www.safeeggs.com.
Davidson's Safest Choice eggs are "slow-pasteurized" in all-natural warm water baths while still in their shells to destroy Salmonella, but protect the farm fresh taste of the egg. This innovative technology is recognized by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) to inactivate Salmonella and the Avian Influenza Virus. NPE offers both cage-free and traditional eggs produced with its patented "Safest Choice" technology, and is the world's largest producer of pasteurized shell eggs.
"The skyrocketing demand for these eggs in new grocers is a clear indication that consumers will not accept the "buyer beware" position, insisting that the food industry provide safe products that they can cook anyway they want," said Greg West, president of NPE. "Our eggs provide protection from Salmonella without compromising on taste or forcing the consumer to cook their eggs hard."