Do you ever get irritated or disgusted by the amount of chicken poop on eggs which you bought from a store or corner store? Welcome to the club! I don’t know what to name this club but i am definitely a member of it. Every single time I buy eggs from an egg retailer, I’ve wasted man-hours washing each egg before each use so as not to catch salmonella or any zombie-causing bacteria.
I posted about my frustrations recently on X and Instagram and the overwhelming general consensus was that WE ALL HATE CHICKEN POOP ON OUR EGGS!
I decided to do a bit of digging around in the great big world of the internet to see if this was a normal occurrence amongst poultry egg farmers and how it’s being resolved. What I discovered from various Reddit posts & articles showed that when nest boxes aren’t cleaned out promptly and frequently, the eggs get soiled. Chicken eggs after all come out of the cloaca - same place they poop from- so when there’s poop in the nest the eggs would get soiled. Does this mean Ghanaian egg farmers aren’t changing out these nests so as to reduce their operations costs?
I also read about how eggs aren’t washed at farms in the UK when already clean. This ensures that the natural bloom (an invisible natural coating & defense system from bacteria) on it stays intact which means the consumer doesn’t need to refrigerate them later. However, should the eggs have poop or other forms of muck on them, it’s required for farmers to use warm water to clean it off.
Interestingly, I chanced upon this article about a stakeholder sensitization forum organized by the Ghana National Egg Campaign back in 2021. During that forum the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) and Ghana Standards Authority (GSA) highlighted standard requirements from the GSA on how eggs should be handled, stored and sold. Present at that forum where the Egg Sellers Association of Ghana and Women in Poultry Value Chain. I took a screenshot of what the GSA specifically said during that forum:
Has the GSA noticed the non-compliance by the egg farmers and sellers? Who’s supposed to be monitoring and ensuring that Ghanaians are having access to good quality, appealing looking eggs? Are consumers being protected from salmonella and other forms of contamination hazards ? I don’t think so! Or are we waiting for food poisoning outbreaks before something gets done?
A few years ago, I was in Ecuador and I remember being taken aback by a stamp on an egg. When I enquired it was apparently a standard required to be on locally produced eggs to indicate the quality of eggs. Ecuador oh! A third world country has their eggs locked in!
The United Kingdom also has enforced a similar action on all eggs aptly called the British Lion eggs. At least 90% of eggs produced in the UK has this stamp which shows the farm, farming method and country code and the red lion mark which is an indication of the chickens being vaccinated against salmonella . If ever you borga to the UK and you buy eggs as you will, hopefully you’re now in the know.
As consumers we need to demand for better value from our local food producers. We cannot just be accepting things the way they are! When we are silent on issues, people will never sit up to do the right thing. We need to fix our country on every level it seems. Sigh! Kwame Nkrumah must be turning in his grave at this point.
What are your thoughts on chicken poop on eggs? Share them below!
