The egg recall list expanded Friday with one more Iowa egg producer joining the list. The half billion eggs are being recalled because, the Food and Drug Administration reports, in 10 states, there are 1,000 people reported to get sick from them. Congress has launched an investigation of the salmonella outbreak. New federal egg safety rules giving the FDA authority to inspect egg producers were enacted July 9. FDA officials said if the new food safety rules had been in effect the salmonella outbreak could are prevented.
Egg producer expected for this
Wright County Egg recalled 380 million eggs, says the FDA, when the largest egg recall ever recorded started last week. Quality Egg was shown by the FDA to have salmonella difficulties as well which is why Hillendale Farms ended up recalling an additional 180 million eggs. Monday was the day the House Energy and Commerce Committee asked for documents from the business. CNN reported this. Wright County Egg and Quality Egg are owned by the DeCoster agribusiness empire in the Midwest and Northeast. DeCoster has always been shady. Many were concerned about the business and how it was being run. In June, Jack DeCoster admitted to 10 civil counts of animal cruelty in Maine. In 1996, DeCoster was accused of having minors working in a sweatshop on a Maine chicken farm. He paid a $ 3.6 million fee because of this. DeCoster was accused of dumping hog manure in 2000. This led Iowa’s attorney general to call DeCoster a “habitual violator” of state environmental laws.
New safety rules for making eggs
July 9 was when there was a change in who inspected egg producers. Until then, the responsibility was solely the USDA’s. About 2,000 reports of illness have been traced to salmonella between May and July, which is nearly 3 times the typical figure, as outlined by the Centers for Disease control. The inspection duties lay between the FDA and USDA now, reports the Wall Street Journal. Farms now have to test eggs and facilities for salmonella along with safeguarding feed and water from contamination and chicks and hens have to be bought from those who monitor salmonella. The FDA is giving farms a year to become compliant.
Salmonella on an egg
Consumers are advised to throw away or take back any eggs in the recall. There are certain packing dates and location codes to help you know if your eggs are bad. The Los Angeles times reports that salmonella is always a concern when eating raw eggs. You won’t be able to easy discover out if your egg has salmonella. It isn’t detectable by taste, smell or looks. People have been contracting salmonella poisoning probably from making hollandaise sauce or eating their eggs sunny side up. Cooking an egg all the way can really help. This will kill any bacteria from salmonella. The yolk needs to be cooked all the way. You will be fine if the egg is pasteurized. You might as well take the eggs back and get your money back when you have eggs on the recall list.
Further 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
