Center for Science in the Public Interest
Press Conference May 14, 1997
Washington, DC

“Eggs Contaminated with Salmonella Have Put Consumers At Risk Across the Nation”

  • Eggs have become the number one contributor to food poisoning outbreaks, with hundreds of thousands of Americans getting sick or dying every year.
  • A type of Salmonella known as enteritidis causes an estimated 200,000 to 1 million human cases of salmonellosis each year. Contaminated eggs cause at least 80 percent of these illnesses.
  • Between 1980 and 1995, the number of reported illnesses in the U.S. from Salmonella enteritidis (SE) increased by more than five times.
  • Consumers' risk of becoming ill from Salmonella in eggs has increased by 400 percent since 1980.