There has been an average of 100 cases a year of salmonella poisoning - or salmonellosis - in the ACT since 1991, but the number is actually higher as not everyone affected seeks medical attention.
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Last year, there were 241 cases in the ACT, well above the 23-year historical average.
Salmonellosis is a type of gastroenteritis caused by salmonella bacteria, often spread through poorly cooked foods. Raw or undercooked eggs, meat and poultry are particularly high risk, with eggs the source of the past four major outbreaks in the territory.
Rising national rates of salmonella infection led to the introduction of a national food standard for egg producers late last year to address the risk of egg products in salmonellosis. The national standard prohibits the sale of cracked and dirty eggs, and requires individual eggs to be stamped with the producer's unique identification so they can be traced, but they say it is too early to tell whether it has had a positive effect.
The measures do not answer all the issues either, as it is up to individual jurisdictions to enforce the standard, although NSW has had an Egg Food Safety Scheme in place since 2010 for anyone producing more than 20 dozen eggs a week.
And with the largest-ever salmonella outbreak in the territory determined to be from the mayonnaise at the Copa Brazilian Churrasco restaurant, there is a lesson for all in food safety.
"I think there's a pretty good awareness of food safety risks in general," said John Hart, national chief executive of the Restaurant and Catering Association, "but this area and the risk that eggs pose is showing up to be an area where there isn't sufficient education as to the risks.
"We've had two outbreaks of that nature in the ACT in recent times, and it's certainly an area in which we need some significant education to stop these sort of outbreaks occurring. It seems that most of the incidents and significant incidents we've had in recent times have all been around eggs."
How can eggs transmit salmonella?
Salmonella is a coliform in the bowels of animals such as chickens and pigs. It can transfer from the gut of a chicken to the shell of the egg, and while it is not impossible for the bacteria to infiltrate the contents of the eggs, it is not common.
Therefore washing eggs to rid them of organic material and washing hands and surfaces that have touched dirty eggs can stop the spread of salmonella.
"When you cook an egg you kill the bacteria, but if you use raw egg, like raw egg product used in mayonnaise, or raw egg whites that are used in something like tiramisu, then there's no kill step through the cooking process," Mr Hart said. "So you have to be particularly careful that there's no cross-contamination between the shell and the egg, particularly an organic egg product where there's likely some organic product on the eggshell that might come in contact with the raw egg."
ACT Health also warns of the risk of cross-contamination, with bacteria infecting kitchen utensils such as knives or cutting boards or transferred via the hands of an infected food handler.
The risk associated with raw eggs is high enough for authorities to recommend against serving foods containing raw eggs to people likely to be more severely affected by salmonella - children under two years of age, pregnant women, over-70s, and those with compromised immune systems.
Implications
Most of those who ate at the Copa at the weekend were affected, suffering severe stomach cramps, fever, headaches, vomiting and diarrhoea.
A week off work, lost income, medical expenses and pain and suffering are all things for which salmonella sufferers have been compensated for in recent cases, but there is the risk of death from salmonella among those with compromised immune systems.
So an outbreak of 140 cases is more than enough to send waves through the industry, and the Restaurant and Catering Association - which represents 35,000 restaurants, cafes and caterers nationally, and 180 in the capital (but not the Copa) - is going to ramp up food safety training.
"We're looking to include a bit more material in the food safety supervisors certificate, for example, that we offer all food safety supervisors.
''We're also encouraging the training agencies - in particular the competency standards bodies - to include explicitly some more training around these areas of risk in the curriculum that's taught through TAFE colleges and the like."
For budding chefs who fancy some homemade aioli or nanna's tiramisu, the buck stops with them.
Australian National University professor of infectious diseases and microbiology Peter Collignon said last year that distinguishing between egg providers was not necessarily enough.
''Any egg, whether it's commercial or free range, can be an issue,'' Mr Collignon said.
''My view is whatever egg I get from whatever source, it's too hard to know, so I cook it.''