HERB - Mint, yet again!

[Gaylin Walli]

Joanna asked:
>It may be a stupid question, but can dogs get sick from salmonella?  I
>doubt it with the kind of stuff they eat!

Good question. PETA, the ASPCA, and Humane Society haven't given
me any info on this. I called and checked their websites. Didn't
call any vets though. Only quick searches of the websites, though.
YMMV.

>When my eggs get too old to cook with, I generally wipe them off with
>bleach or alcohol, make a small hole at each end,  and blow the contents
>into a bowl, saving the shells for decorating.  (Don't go there!)  Am I
>courting a salmonella disaster, or is disinfecting the shells enough?

Doubtful. As long as you don't suck the egg contents into your mouth
and if you thoroughly wash your hands and the egg shells before and
after, and if you've stored your eggs properly (not in the egg door of
your fridge and below 40 F) I think you've covered most of the bases.

This, however, is solely my uneducated opinion. The eggs *are* sanitized
prior to selling them to you. Assuming you don't buy them from your
neighbor, that is. The number of chickens that actually are suspected
of passing on the bacteria to eggs and the number of eggs that actually
contain the bacteria are actually very very low according to the
statistics published by the FDA.

One important thing to know, according to the FDA and the Egg Council,
the Salmonella enteritidis bacteria cannot survive temperatures in
excess of 140 degrees F. If you could figure out a way to boil shells
without damaging when empty, this would definitely help you out with
anything that might have stuck to the inside.

>This may be off-topic for herbs, but the subject has me intrigued.  I
>remember when eggs were a "pure" food.

They still are. Just use common sense. And I don't think that the
subject is off base. We might use eggs in our herbal preparations,
say lotions or salves or shampoos or soaps. Better share the safety
information and our concerns than keeping quiet and feeling guilty
later on when we hear that Mast Soandso got poisoned, right?

Jasmine de Cordoba, Midrealm
g.walli at infoengine.com or jasmine at infoengine.com

"Si enim alicui placet mea devotio, gaudebo; si autem
nulli placet, memet ipsam tamen juvat quod feci."
-- Hroswith of Gandersheim
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