Foods Face Tougher Path From Farm to Table

Government Rules Aim to Prevent Salmonella in Eggs, E. Coli in Beef

By KATE BARRETT and LISA STARK

The Harvest Lane Farm in Pennsylvania is the vanguard in the fight to keep salmonella out of eggs.

An effort to ensure that food is safe gets a boost from regulators in Washington, D.C., today, as the Obama administration issues new rules for eggs, poultry, beef and some fruits and vegetables.

(Getty Images)

Hens arrive at Harvest Lane Farm certified salmonella-free. Traps in the hen house keep bacteria-carrying rodents away. Manure is tested for salmonella, and any positive results means mandatory egg testing.

"If eggs would test positive, then immediately that means that flock would be diverted to pasteurization -- which means consumers won't be buying those eggs in their egg carton at the grocery store," Chris Pierce, general manager at Heritage Poultry Management Services, told ABC News today in Lititz, Pa.

Steps like those are already underway in Pennsylvania -- a state with a model program to prevent tainted eggs from entering the food supply -- and will soon be embraced nationwide.

The massive effort to keep food safe for consumers received a boost from regulators in Washington, D.C., today, as the Obama administration issued new rules for eggs, poultry, beef and some fruits and vegetables.

It's a responsibility shared by farmers in Pennsylvania Dutch country, inspectors in a small trailer on the U.S.-Mexico border, truckers on the highways and grocers in small towns from Maine to California: As Americans consume fresh food from all over the world, countless people are working to ensure that it's safe to eat. Read more...