Bad Eggs. Literally.

Taken from CBS.com

(CBS/AP) Michael Foods, a Minnesota-based food company, is recalling more than one million hard-cooked eggs from 34 states, after tests revealed some may be contaminated with Listeria monocytogenes bacteria.

PICTURES: Listeria: 7 key questions answered

Some 15,000 pails of eggs in brine, sold for institutional use, are being recalled, Michael Foods spokeswoman Diane Sparish said in a U.S. Food and Drug Administration written statement.
TheFDA said the eggs were produced at the company's plant in Wakefield, Neb., and were bought by food distributors and manufacturers and not sold directly to retailers. There have been no reports of illness connected to the eggs, the agency said.

The states included in the recall are: Alabama; Arkansas; Arizona; California; Colorado; Florida; Georgia; Iowa; Illinois; Indiana; Kansas; Kentucky; Louisiana; Michigan; Minnesota; Missouri; Mississippi; Montana; North Carolina; North Dakota; Nebraska; New Jersey; Nevada; Ohio; Oklahoma; Oregon; Pennsylvania; South Carolina; Tennessee; Texas; Utah; Washington; Wisconsin; and West Virginia.

Lab testing by a third party revealed that some eggs may have been contaminated and the company determined that a repair project in a packaging room was the likely source of contamination, Sparish said in an email to The Associated Press. She said more than a million eggs were being recalled.
Michael Foods has taken a number of corrective steps to address the issue and prevent recurrence, she said.

Listeria infection, also known as listeriosis, can cause symptoms including fever, diarrhea, muscle aches, headache, stiff neck, confusion, loss of balance, and convulsions. The disease primarily strikes older adults, pregnant women, or people with weakened immune systems. Symptoms can take up to two months to appear.

Listeria from cantaloupes caused an outbreak last year that sickened 146 people across 28 states, HealthPop reported. The CDC declared that outbreak over in December.
The eggs are sold under six brand names: Columbia Valley Farms; GFS; Glenview Farms; Papetti's; Silverbrook; and Wholesome Farms. Here are pictures of these company's egg labels.
Only lot codes immediately preceded by a "1" AND ending in a "W" are affected.

The FDA says a recall of three lot dates was announced on Thursday, January 26, but the recall was expanded today to include additional lot dates as a precautionary measure.

Got questions about the recall? Call Michael Foods at 877-367-3447, Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. - 5 p.m. ET.

stress

Sorry for the long delay between updates.  Life has been pretty stressful lately, so here's a quick update:  I need an egg-shaped stress ball.  That would be perfect.  More to come later, I promise.

Eggs: Good or Evil?

Are eggs good for you, or are they delectable time bombs of the heart?  If you look online, it's incredibly difficult to find unbiased information on anything, and unfortunately eggs and health is another topic that is ridden with an agenda.  sigh. 

SO dear reader, I decided to try to find at least a semblance of something as non-biased as possible.  What did I find, you may ask?  Two articles.  

1. The first is from my hometown hero, The Mayo Clinic.  Mayo Clinic - famous for the typical health stuff, like cancer, unusual diseases, face-eating tumors....just a few things here and there.  Anyway, according to cardiologist, Dr. Thomas Behrenbeck:

"Chicken eggs are high in cholesterol, and a diet high in cholesterol can contribute to high blood cholesterol levels. However, how much the cholesterol in your diet can increase your blood cholesterol varies from person to person."

Essentially, a normal, healthy person should consume no more than 300 mg of cholesterol a day.  One chicken egg yolk  has about 213 mg. If you have issues with cholesterol, just consume the white, since it has none. 

awesome drawing by Little Black Design

2. HOWEVER, enter article #2 from livestrong.com and the Lance Armstrong Foundation.  You know, the guy that is famous for riding bikes really well, dating Sheryl Crow, and having testicular cancer and bringing global awareness to it via cheap yellow bracelets.  Anyway, according to them:

 "Nutritionists now recognize three different kinds of cholesterol. One of these, HDL cholesterol, is actually good for circulatory health. Hard-boiled eggs long were on the "bad food" list because of their cholesterol count, but it turns out that some of the fats in hard-boiled eggs are actually heart healthy."

Some aspects of eggs are good, some not so good. While eggs themselves have cholesterol, it does not necessarily become bad cholesterol in our blood once ingested, but actually helps promote good cholesterol via good unsaturated fats.

However, the article also says that it's not "the best" source of good heart health (obviously, it still has some bad saturated fats and contains about 71% of our daily cholesterol intake).  

The real answer, just like EVERYTHING, is to just exercise moderation.