Media Handling Of SE Facts (Conttiwd from Pago A 1) programs in (be country, to Stone Phillips, anchoipenon of the nightly NBC TV show. Nobody at NBC “Dateline” responded. The segment, which aired Tues day night on “Dateline," may have put tome fears about eating eggs in toe n*hids of many. According to gushway, one claim made was that one in 40 people were exposed to SE in eggs figures that Bush way and others believe am largely inflated. Bushway was able to appear on a brief segment of die Lancaster County affiliate, WGAL TV 8, earlier in die day on Tuesday, to respond beforehand to the Dateline segment She indicated that eggs, if handled and cooked properly, ate perfectly safe, and that getting sick from eating eggs “is pretty rare." Actual figures put SE in about two eggs in 10,000 from contaminated farms, which is far less of a risk than many media organizations reveal. Producers can benefit from some of the work the coalition ijoes full-time to communicate with the media and spread the truth about SE. Memberships stretch across seven states in die North east, maiding Pennsylvania, New York, Maryland, Delaware, New Let TT€RSH€V ■■■ EQUIPMENT CO., INC. do the work! New expanded services from Hershey Equipment include feed mill construction and expansion. Let us do the work and design your storage and handling systems. We have our own experienced crews for service and installation. TKRSH€V ■Bi ■■■ EQUIPMENT CO., INC. SYCAMORE IND. PARK 255 PLANE TREE DRIVE LANCASTER, PA 17603 Dr. Richard L Dutton Jersey, Massachusetts, and Maine, according to Bushwiy. The colditioo, formed four years ago, was started to "respond to the kinds of things we saw” as a result of the Dateline segment and simi lar stories. The coalition receives cooperative funding from the American Egg Board to place radio, TV, and print advertising about the value of eggs. More and mote, die coalition is turning to radio as an effective, tried-and-true way to reach people. “Radio is a huge media market today, an important media mark et,” said Bushway. People turn to radio because mote have time to listen to it, with increased drive time to work. Also, the coalition can negotiate more with radio sta tions to maximize the use of money allowable. Last Christmas, the coalition helped put together a 60- second radio spot, “Dreaming of An Egg White Christmas!” Close to 3,000 people in the Northeast heard the radio spot and asked for the bro chure of nine holiday recipes that use 'egg whites. The recipe bro chure is available from the North east Egg Promotion Coalition, P.O. Box 308, Hampton, NH 03843. Last year, the coalition ran 698 spots in mostly localized (717)393-5807 markets, said Bushway. This year they’ve requested 375 spots on radio to appeal to women, die primary egg buyer in most households. However, “almost 50 percent of the people who wrote in were men,” she said, responding to the “cholesterol message.” Regarding how to combat SE, a noted flock health veterinarian from the Mid west spoke to egg producers dur ing the morning portion of Wed nesday’s program. Dr. Richard L. Dutton, flock health veterinarian foe M.G. Waldbaum Company, Wake field, Neb., spoke about his com pany's firsthand experience with SE and offered suggestions on how to combat it through management. Dutton manages flock health for 13 million layers and six million pullets for the company in Wake field, home to about 1,100 people. In the past few years, Wald baum has decreased the numbers of birds under contract. Six years ago, there were more than 100 Hundreds visited the exhibit hall on Tuesday and Wednesday this week at the annu al Northeast Poultry Show. If It's Worth Your Investment Trust It To Hershey farms under independent contract, with a total of two million birds. Now, about 300,000 are under independent contract As for SE testing, the Northeast and California are die most active in programs, according to Dutton. California tests about 70 percent of their flocks for SE, compared to maybe 15-23 percent in the Mid west and less than 10 percent in the South. “From a practitioner’s point of view, SE is a pain,” Dutton told those who attended die show. Some view SE as a political prob lem, some a breeder problem, others a rodent problem. But food safety issues are with producers today, “whether we like it or not,” he said. “Too many people stick their head in the sand and ignore the problem,” he said. However, Waldbaum, because of an experi ence with SE in homemade ice cream, was able to quickly isolate the problem (with two of their own layer houses in Colorado) and deal with it. Lancaster Fanning, Saturday, September 21! A