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In my mind, the half-billion-egg recall went like this. Eggs are recalled, eggs get on big trucks and go back to wherever they came from, eggs are destroyed. I guess my naivete is giving you a big chuckle right about now.

The massive egg recall may have made hundreds ill, but it won’t hurt the pocketbook of the careless owner of these sick chickens. The tainted eggs are being sold to a “breaking plant,” a place where a large portion of the nation’s eggs go to be broken and dried for use in processed foods. During the breaking and drying procedure, the eggs are pasteurized, killing the salmonella.

This is bad news for three reasons:

1.    Although scientists tell us that pasteurization process kills the salmonella bacteria, the actual dead bacteria and it’s waste products remain in the food. They told us that about food contaminated with e. Coli as well. Then, scientists discovered that the actual e. Coli bacteria was only part of the problem. As the e. Coli bacteria lives and eats, it creates waste products which enter the food. These waste products are not killed by proper cooking (or by pasteurization) and have the ability to make us ill in different ways from the bacteria itself. If this is also true of salmonella, the intentional poisoning of our food supply is about to occur.

2.    The tainted eggs are being shipped to the “breaking plant” and combined there with eggs from uncontaminated sources. They will not be marked, labeled or otherwise distinguishable from uncontaminated eggs in any way. Powdered eggs are shipped from the “breaking plant” all over the U.S. and the world, turning this into a worldwide problem.

3.    The FDA has no power to shut down the company producing the sick eggs. When the contamination was discovered (in April) the company was warned. It wasn’t until late August, that the FDA “recommended a voluntary recall.” Allowing this repeat offender to profit from a system that he knows to be making people ill is unconscionable. Hundreds of people are sick and hospitalized but the owner of this company won’t miss a beat turning out sick eggs and depositing his earnings. This owner has been repeatedly fined since 1994. Why is he still in business making money by making people sick?

Here’s what you can do to protect yourself:

Read the label If the label on your food says “egg solids,” “egg white solids,” “egg yolk solids,” “dried egg” or “powdered egg” think twice before purchasing it. Foods purchased before August 2010 should be safe, but I would avoid purchasing anything that uses these ingredients from that point on.

Ask the server in the restaurant if the dish you are ordering contains these products. Because they are lighter than fresh eggs, require no refrigeration and are not breakable, most national restaurant chains ship powdered eggs for use in their sites. Powdered eggs are used in baked goods, and even reconstituted into egg white omelettes, meringues and other foods.

Know your farmer and buy your eggs locally. Farmers markets are in full swing around the nation. You can find your closest one at www.localharvest.org. Look for eggs from pastured hens (which means they get fresh air, sunshine, and their food from the ground like they were created to do) and not grain-fed or cage-free hens. Eggs advertised as free range might or might not be a good investment, it depends largely on the farmer and their methods. Know where your food comes from. Hint: If the farmer eats his own food, there’s a better chance it is safe for you to eat than if the food is shipped off to a processing facility.

Let’s eat careful out there.

This post is part of Fight Back Fridays, hosted by Food Renegade.