Australia’s egg industry is once again under the spotlight as a NSW Southern Highlands egg farm becomes the latest casualty of a possible salmonella outbreak.

The NSW Food Authority said 
Synergy Produce is recalling six and 12 packs of Southern Highland Organic Eggs with best before dates up to and including May 9.

The eggs have been available for sale in Woolworths in NSW and Victoria, IGA in NSW and other independent retailers in NSW.

https://twitter.com/NSWFoodAuth/status/1114313476665696257

On March 27, Food Standards Australia New Zealand (FSANZ) announced Ash and Son Eggs issued a recall notice for a range of its products, with two best before dates, sold in IGA supermarkets, independent stores, butchers and bakeries across NSW.

And on March 21, Victorian farm Bridgewater Poultry was identified as having sold eggs containing a salmonella enteritidis strain that infected five people aged in their 20s to 80s.

Victoria’s chief health officer Dr Brett Sutton described the salmonella enteritidis strain as “the cane toad of salmonella”.

At the time Dr Sutton said: “It is not a normal organism found in eggs in Victoria, indeed Australia”.

The potentially affected brands were Victorian Fresh Barn Laid Eggs in 600, 700 and 800-gram varieties, and Loddon Valley Barn Laid 600-gram eggs. They were sold in Woolworths and independent supermarkets in NSW, Victoria, Tasmania and the ACT and in Coles outlets in Victoria and South Australia.

Affected eggs have best-before dates ranging from March 20 to April 29.

The Department of Health and Human Services, along with Agriculture Victoria inspectors, identified the salmonella strain during a routine check on March 25 at the farm.

Quarantine measures were imposed and thousands of affected hens were expected to be euthanised.

Dr Sutton said a national investigation is underway after the Victorian cases were suspected to be linked to properties in NSW which were contaminated last year.

⚠️ Food recall ⚠️ Bridgewater Poultry is recalling various barn laid eggs and cage free eggs in ACT, NSW, Vic., Tas., and SA. The recall is due to potential Salmonella Enteriditis contamination https://t.co/XoaQSF8D1a #FoodRecallAu #FSANZ #FoodRecall #SalmonellaSE pic.twitter.com/NYVDl3a8C9

— FoodStandardsAusNZ (@FSANZnews) March 20, 2019

Salmonella might be present in eggs from time to time, as all warm-blooded animals can carry the bacteria in their intestines, he told ABC radio on March 28.

“If varying strains of salmonella are present, in this case we have quite a nasty one, then the chance of it getting through a very small percentage and contaminating some eggs is there – and that’s what happened,” he said.

“We are seeing an isolated outbreak. But there was an outbreak in NSW last year.”

Meanwhile, NSW’s food authority said this recall was also due to potential salmonella enteritidis contamination.