Q&A on the News

By Lori Johnston

For the AJC

Q: Pakistan is a member of the Commonwealth of Nations (formerly the British Commonwealth). Does that group have a “disaster fund” that member nations have access to during times of great hardship caused by a natural calamity?

— Jon Mayes, Lawrenceville

A: “The Commonwealth Secretariat does not have a disaster fund that nations in distress can access funds from. However, Secretary-General Kamalesh Sharma has appealed to members of the grouping to come to Pakistan's aid, and many have done so in a big way,” Manoah Esipisu, deputy director of the Commonwealth’s Communications & Public Affairs Division, told Q&A on the News in an e-mail. For example, he said, as of Friday people in the U.K. had contributed £40 million ($62 million) in aid to assist Pakistan flood victims.

Q: What do you do with half a billion bad eggs?

— Ed F. Chalmers, Dunwoody

A: Not all of the eggs tainted with salmonella have to be destroyed, The Associated Press reported. Bruce Chassy, a food science professor at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, told the AP the eggs -- even from infected hens -- can be sold safely if they are pasteurized or cooked. That process raises the temperature of the eggs and eliminates most, if not all, salmonella. Other pasteurized eggs “can be sold as liquid eggs or put in other products such as mayonnaise or ice cream,” the AP reported. The recall of more than half a billion eggs began Aug. 13.

Lori Johnston wrote this column. Do you have a question about the news? We’ll try to get the answer. Call 404-222-2002 or e-mail q&a@ajc.com (include name, phone and city).