Remember how we said yesterday that the American Egg Board campaign had its work cut out for it? The Humane Society of the US has launched its own campaign that ties salmonella risk to cramped farm conditions.

Ads featuring the headline “Why is the egg industry playing Russian roulette with Americans’ health?” have begun appearing in newspapers in California, Iowa, and Pennsylvania. The Humane Society has also issued press releases, is using social media, and is reaching out to the media (here’s a CNN clip) with their message about the connection between cage size and the recall.

Some states are already taking steps to increase the size of the cages farm animals are kept in. This huge recall could speed along the process.

The American Egg Board has launched a campaign intended to calm nervous egg lovers over the recent recall of more than half a billion eggs. Ads placed in newspapers including the Wall Street Journal are driving traffic the the Egg Safety Center website, where consumers are given information about “ways to further reduce the incidence of food-borne illness related to egg products.” The recall began on August 13.

The Egg Board’s SVP of marketing, Kevin Birkum, tells Ad Age that the organization is also keeping a close watch for consumer sentiment online and using Facebook and Twitter to post updates. Edelman is listed among the firms that work on the Egg Board’s marcomms.

With data showing that online buzz about the recall is growing and restaurants reminding diners about the dangers of undercooked foods, it sounds like the Egg Board and their agency partners have a lot of work cut out for them.