Eggs popular, but they require safe handling

After years of being maligned over cholesterol, eggs made a big comeback in the past decade.

But with the recent salmonella outbreak and recall of more than 228 million eggs, will Humpty Dumpty take another fall?

A recent article on the Food Channel underscored the egg's newfound popularity: "Get in on the hot new trend for adding a cracked egg on top of everything from burgers to salads with these delicious breakfast pizzas topped with farm fresh eggs."

Many trendy restaurants are using eggs in nontraditional ways. You'll see pizzas with an egg cracked on top or burgers with a fried egg under their buns. The Internet is teeming with recipes for salads topped with a fried egg, as well.

In Utah, the trend can be spotted at The Copper Onion, opened last winter by Ryan Lowder, who worked at several acclaimed New York restaurants. One signature small plate is sautéed mushrooms topped with a fried egg. The pasta carbonara is served with egg yolk nestled on top of the hot pasta.

Across the country, do-it-yourselfers are building urban chicken coops so they can enjoy eggs fresh from their own hens.

I'm guessing several factors played into the egg's renaissance. The low-carb diet frenzy of the early 2000s helped. When the economy crashed, people did the math and realized that eggs were a protein-packed bargain.

Although a large egg does contain about two-thirds of the daily recommended maximum of cholesterol, they are also packed with a wide variety of nutrients. Today's thinking is that in moderation, eggs can be part of a balanced diet.

But the massive egg recall may change the egg's new popularity. People were put off peanut butter for awhile after the salmonella outbreaks linked to the Peanut Corp. of America and ConAgra Foods.

In 2008, restaurant chains and grocery stores shelved tomatoes when they became the prime suspects behind another widespread salmonella outbreak. After weeks of investigations, the culprit appeared to be the jalapeño peppers in fresh salsa, not the tomatoes.

A news release issued by the Utah Department of Agriculture said its food safety investigators have been in contact with major retailers in Utah and determined it is highly unlikely the tainted eggs are in Utah.