I'm very surprised to read this, because my understanding (from the UK) is that US chicken and egg farms have a horrendous salmonella problem stemming from high numbers of chickens per sqft and low regulation on things like clean bedding.
This is the reason US eggs are washed, removing their natural antibac coating, and therefore need refridgeration whereas UK/EU eggs are not and do not.
I remember reading a lot about this subject during the Brexit debate, but have forgotten a lot of it since. So, what am I missing?
They're claiming that it's safer to eat _cooked_ meat than _raw_ vegetables in the US, I'm assuming. I'm not sure if this is true (it's certainly possible if wastewater from animal farming is poorly controlled there), but it's not really comparing like for like.
You are saying USDA controls may not be so successful at this which could be true but then in veg there seem to be just no controls of similar extent (different from "have controlls but they don't quite work). Some comment on HN mentioned every single dead animal in US meat industry is inspected and signed for, imagine like this but with each carrot
While vaccination is one difference, the EU has banned conventional battery cages, and some countries have banned all cages. Where cages are allowed, the legal minimum area is 0.075m^2/chicken; the US doesn't seem to set a minimum on a national basis, but average seems to be ~0.04m^2. So there's a significant difference in density, which likely has some impact.
This is the reason US eggs are washed, removing their natural antibac coating, and therefore need refridgeration whereas UK/EU eggs are not and do not.
I remember reading a lot about this subject during the Brexit debate, but have forgotten a lot of it since. So, what am I missing?