Congress is interested within the reason for the salmonella egg recall

The egg recall list expanded Friday with another 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. An investigation was launched by Congress because of the outbreak of salmonella. July 9 was when new egg safety rules came out. The FDA was given the authority to do this. The FDA has said that salmonella wouldn’t have even happened had the laws been in place already.

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. Another 180 million eggs were recalled by Hillendale Farms. Quality Egg, supplied by Hillendale, was shown to have salmonella cases by the FDA. Monday was the day the House Energy and Commerce Committee asked for documents from the company. CNN reported this. Wright County Egg and Quality Egg are owned by the DeCoster agribusiness empire within the Midwest and Northeast. DeCoster companies have a history of questionable practices. In Maine, Jack DeCoster pleaded guilty in June to 10 civil counts of animal cruelty. 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

Until July 9, inspection of egg producers was the sole responsibility of the USDA. The Center of Disease control reports that three times more reports of Salmonella than normal were reported between May and July of this year. That is about 2,000 cases. The Wall Street Journal reports the new change. Now the FDA and USDA share responsibility for inspecting. 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. Farms have one year to change their standard.

Get your salmonella

Any eggs with certain packing dates and locations are being recalled meaning consumers should take back or throw out these eggs. Even so, a salmonella contamination expert told the Los Angeles Times that there is always some threat of salmonella poisoning from raw eggs. A person can’t determine a salmonella egg from its look, smell or taste. People have been contracting salmonella poisoning most likely 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. Simply make sure you cook the yoke. That is important. 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.

Find more info on this subject

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

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