The egg recall list expanded Friday with an additional Iowa egg producer joining the list. 1,000 people in 10 states, says the Food and Drug Administration, have gotten sick which is why the half a billion eggs are being recalled. Salmonella outbreaks have caused concern by Congress. Congress has decided an investigation needs to be launched. July 9 was when new egg safety rules came out. The FDA was given the authority to do this. If the food safety rules were already complete, says the FDA, there wouldn’t are an outbreak of salmonella.
Egg producer typically has difficulties
The largest egg recall in recent history, as outlined by the FDA, began last week when Wright County Egg recalled 380 million eggs. Several days later Hillendale Farms announced a recall of 180 million eggs after the FDA tracked salmonella cases to Quality Egg, one of its suppliers. As outlined by CNN, the House Energy and Commerce Committee wanted documents from both of the companies on Monday. Wright County Egg and Quality Egg are owned by the DeCoster agribusiness empire within the Midwest and Northeast. DeCoster has always been shady. Many were concerned about the business and the way it was being run. 10 civil counts of animal cruelty in Maine were what Jack DeCoster was accused of. He pleaded guilty to these in June. In 1996, DeCoster paid a $ 3.6 million fine after being accused of running a sweatshop for minority workers at a Maine chicken farm. DeCoster was called a “habitual violator” of state environmental laws by an Iowa attorney general in 2000 after getting accused of dumping hog manure.
Getting eggs a bit safer with new rules
July 9 was when there was a change in who inspected egg producers. Until then, the responsibility was solely the USDA’s. Between May and July, there have been three times more than normal reports of salmonella, which is about 2,000, reports the Center for Disease control. The Wall Street Journal reports that the FDA and also the USDA now share inspection duties. The new egg safety rules consist of requiring farms to test eggs and facilities for salmonella, protect feed and water from contamination and buying chicks and young hens from suppliers that monitor for salmonella. The FDA is giving farms a year to become compliant.
Get your egg hot with salmonella
Any eggs with certain packing dates and locations are being recalled meaning consumers should take back or throw out these eggs. The Los Angeles times reports that salmonella is always a concern when eating raw eggs. Salmonella is not something you are able to taste, smell or see. People have been contracting salmonella poisoning most likely from making hollandaise sauce or eating their eggs sunny side up. Salmonella bacteria is killed when an egg is cooked all the way. The yolk should be cooked hard. Pasteurized eggs are safe. If your eggs are on the recall list, you’d better be safe than sorry. Just take the eggs back and get you money.
Additional reading
CNN
cnn.com/2010/HEALTH/08/23/eggs.salmonella/index.html?npt=NP1
Wall Street Journal
online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704504204575445981962961848.html
Los Angeles Times
mobile.latimes.com/wap/news/text.jsp?sid=294 and amp;nid=19361323 and amp;cid=17706 and amp;scid=1053 and amp;ith=1 and amp;title=Health
