Dr. Squat - Dr. Fred Hatfield

Eggs get salmonella causing a recall that never ends, when Congress is now interested

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 individuals reported to get sick from them. An investigation was launched by Congress because of the outbreak of salmonella. The FDA was given permission to come up with federal egg safety rules that started on July 9. Salmonella outbreaks could have effortlessly been prevented. The FDA says its new food safety laws would have protected from the outbreak. Post resource - Salmonella egg recall expanding; Congress launches investigation by Personal Money Store.

Violations normal for egg producer

Wright County Egg recalled 380 million eggs, says the FDA, when the largest egg recall ever recorded started last week. One more 180 million eggs were recalled by Hillendale Farms. Quality Egg, supplied by Hillendale, was shown to have salmonella cases by the FDA. CNN reports that Monday the House Energy and Commerce Committee submitted a request for documents from both companies. The DeCoster agribusiness empire within the Midwest and Northeast own both Wright County Egg and Quality Egg. DeCoster has always been shady. Numerous were concerned about the business and just how 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. In 2000, Iowa's attorney general named DeCoster a "habitual violator" of state environmental laws following discharges of manure from hog-farming operations.

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. 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. New egg safety rules were put into place including having farms buy hens and chicks only from suppliers who monitor salmonella. Also, feed and water have to be protected from contamination while eggs and facilities are often tested for salmonella. Farms have one year to change their standard.

Salmonella on an egg

Any eggs with certain packing dates and locations are being recalled meaning consumers should take back or throw out these eggs. Often there is worry about salmonella when eating a raw egg. The Los Angeles Times was told this by a salmonella expert. 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. 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.

More on this topic

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