TURNER – Federal safety proposals aimed at curbing salmonellosis outbreaks aren’t necessary and could actually be harmful, according to a local egg producer.

“A lot of the things they’ve proposed we’re already doing,” said Tony Wasmund, acting operations manager at Turner-based Quality Egg. “We work closely with the state on a voluntary basis” in following programs aimed at reducing egg-induced illnesses.

The Food and Drug Administration last month called for sweeping changes in the way farms handle eggs. The agency says an estimated 118,000 people are sickened annually by eating eggs contaminated with salmonella. One-third of them could be spared the illness if the new rules are adopted, said the FDA.

Adopting the changes could add $1 to the price of a bird. Quality Egg runs DeCoster Egg Farm and supervises work at several other area egg farms. In all, more than 3 million hens are housed by the operations.

Wasmund noted, “I’m not aware of any” outbreaks of salmonellosis – the disease caused by the salmonella germ – at the local egg farms. He’s been working for DeCoster or its spin-off operations since 1987.

The FDA wants farms with more than 3,000 laying hens that don’t pasteurize their eggs to follow its proposed rules in order to trim by 33,500 the number of salmonella-related illnesses.

Its proposals range from calling for creating biosecurity programs to common-sense measures such as ensuring that eggs stored at farms are refrigerated and that pests are controlled.

The biosecurity program would require farms to limit poultry house access and require that visitors shower before entering and after leaving. Potentially tainted outer clothing would have to be destroyed in a sanitary way.

Positive salmonella test results would require prompt disinfection of poultry houses and that steps be taken to keep affected eggs from market.

Wasmund said some of the proposals aren’t necessary.

For example, he said, Quality Egg already restricts access to its poultry houses. Visitors largely consist of state agriculture inspectors well aware of salmonella issues.

Another FDA proposal – to wash down poultry houses – could actually promote salmonella, Wasmund said.

“That’s not the answer to get rid of it,” he said of the germ. Bacteria thrives in warm, damp environments, he noted, which would be created by the washings. The germs could also be spread by the flow of wash water.

Wasmund said Quality Egg will monitor the FDA proposals, and plans on sending comments to the agency regarding some of the rules, such as the poultry-house washing requirement.

The FDA has set a goal of reducing food-related disease outbreaks by 50 percent by 2001.

Salmonella-related illnesses usually result in mild stomach upsets often accompanied by abdominal cramps, diarrhea and sometimes fever, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Occasionally, salmonellosis leads to localized infection in people that, in turn, can cause septic arthritis or progress to sepsis and, in rare instances, death, the CDC noted.

Thoroughly cooking eggs kills the salmonella germ, but many people prefer their eggs undercooked and in some recipes, raw.