According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Salmonella-tainted peanut butter and peanut paste made at PCA’s Georgia and Virginia facilities  resulted in nine deaths and over 700 illnesses in 46 states, with many more cases never reported to the CDC. Items—such as cookies, crackers, candy, and ice cream—that contained PCA peanut products were eventually recalled. Because PCA supplied peanut ingredients to hundreds of other food companies, the number of recalls related to the Salmonella outbreak came close to 4,000.

The impact of the outbreak forced PCA into Chapter 7 bankruptcy.  According to the Associated Press, the settlement funds will be provided by PCA’s insurer, Hartford Casualty Insurance Co.

Depending on the severity of their illnesses, plaintiffs will receive under $50,000 up to  $2 million, with most individual settlements coming in at under $100,000.

The Salmonella outbreak associated with shell eggs is raising serious questions about federal oversight of the industry. According to USA Today, US Department of Agriculture (USDA) staff were regularly on site at both Wright County Egg and Hillandale Farms prior to the outbreak and recalls. As part of an industry-paid program, the USDA egg graders were at the producers’ facilities at least 40 hours per week inspecting the size and quality of eggs inside processing buildings.

So did any of them happen to notice the open manure pits and vermin infestations that Food & Drug Administration (FDA) inspectors discovered last month when they visited Wright County Egg and HIllandale Farms facilities? We don’t know, as their inspection reports are still being reviewed.

According to the USA Today report, such inspectors only look for vermin inside the specific processing building where they are based. Though USDA regulations say buildings and “outside premises” must be free of conditions that harbor vermin, it considers outside premises as only the area immediately around the processing building’s loading dock and trash receptacle, the report said. Such inspectors have no authority to look at the laying barns - where the FDA found many of the violations last month - even though they are connected to the processing facilities.

Carol Tucker-Foreman, an assistant Agriculture secretary under President Carter, and now a food policy fellow at the Consumer Federation of America, told USA Today that egg graders view the companies — not consumers — as their “clients.”

“In this case it appears they did not do a good job for their clients because this (the outbreak and recall) presumably would not have happened had the grading people followed their own regulations,” she said.

]]> http://www.foodpoisoningblog.org/?feed=rss2&p=467 http://www.foodpoisoningblog.org/?p=460 http://www.foodpoisoningblog.org/?p=460#comments Wed, 01 Sep 2010 19:57:42 +0000 LVillanueva http://www.foodpoisoningblog.org/?p=460 The investigation of Salmonella-tainted eggs that have sickened nearly 1,500 people across the country now involves a Minnesota firm that provides an ingredient in hen feed. According to the Des Moines Register, Central Bi-Products, part of Farmers Union Industries, produced meat and bone meal that tested positive for Salmonella at a feed mill operated by Quality Egg LLC, the parent company of Wright County Egg of Galt, Iowa.

According to the report, Food & Drug Administration (FDA) inspectors visited Farmers Union Industries’ offices in Redwood Falls on Tuesday, and today inspected a rendering plant in Long Prairie that produced the bone meal.

Wright County Egg, along with Hillandale Farms, also of Iowa, have recalled more than half a billion eggs due to a nationwide outbreak of Salmonella enteritidis. According to a Wall Street Journal report published today, Wright County Egg has suggested the contamination might have come from bone meal supplied by Central Bi-Products. Not surprisingly, Central Bi-Products strongly disagreed and said its heat-processed bone meal was untainted when it was shipped.

As the Journal pointed out, the an FDA inspection of Wright County Egg/Quality Egg uncovered storage bins for feed and feed ingredients that had multiple problems which could have led to contamination. Some bins were rusted, porous and exposed to live birds and bird feces, and the FDA said rodents, a major source of Salmonella, appeared to have access to many parts of the barn where the feed was kept, the Journal said.

]]> http://www.foodpoisoningblog.org/?feed=rss2&p=460 http://www.foodpoisoningblog.org/?p=455 http://www.foodpoisoningblog.org/?p=455#comments Tue, 31 Aug 2010 18:16:58 +0000 LVillanueva http://www.foodpoisoningblog.org/?p=455 Filth - that’s pretty much what Food & Drug Administration (FDA) inspectors found at two egg producers linked to the current nationwide Salmonella outbreak that has sickened nearly 1,500 people.  Details of August  inspections at Iowa’s Wright County Egg (also known and  Quality Egg) and Hillandale  Farms are contained  on Form 483 reports posted to the agency’s Web site.

Just a warning - if you have a weak stomach, you may not want to read further.

The FDA inspections covered six farms operated by Wright County Egg/ Quality Egg, and three Hillandale Farms locations.  According to CNN, FDA inspectors said neither company fully adhered to their Salmonella enteritidis prevention plan.

Along with an 8-foot-high manure pile, visits to Wright County Egg farms uncovered rodent, fly, maggot, and wild bird infestations. Inspectors also observed farm workers traveling from henhouse to henhouse without cleaning their tools or changing their shoes or clothing, and uncaged birds that tracked manure from manure pits to the laying houses.

Conditions at Hillandale weren’t much better.  At those farms, inspectors found unsealed rodent holes and live rodents entering facilities, as well as standing water and liquid manure leaking into a section of the floor.

During a phone conference yesterday, FDA officials conceded that the findings from these inspections were unacceptable.  What they were unable to do, however, was  say whether the conditions detailed in the 483 reports are uncommon at other  large egg-producing facilities.

According to an editorial published in today’s Boston Globe, food safety inspectors would not have been able to force the two firms to issue a recall even if they had discovered the tainted eggs well before they sickened so many people. The recalls issued by Wright County Egg and Hillandale Farms in the past several weeks were strictly voluntary. Hard to believe, but entirely true!

According to the Boston Globe, the US House of Representatives has passed a food safety bill that includes provisions for mandatory recalls and would also grant the Food & Drug Administration (FDA) the authority to take preventive measures and track food-poisoning cases back to their sources. But as the editorial points out, an amendment to the bill currently under consideration in the Senate would reduce its mandatory inspection provisions for high risk farms and food handlers from every six to 12 months, to once every three years. Not exactly the kind of tough reform we need.

The Boston Glob also points out that in Great Britain, vaccinations have largely eliminated the threat of Salmonella in eggs. The editorial calls on the FDA to institute such a requirement for egg producers here. We couldn’t agree more.

]]> http://www.foodpoisoningblog.org/?feed=rss2&p=448 http://www.foodpoisoningblog.org/?p=446 http://www.foodpoisoningblog.org/?p=446#comments Fri, 27 Aug 2010 18:38:51 +0000 LVillanueva http://www.foodpoisoningblog.org/?p=446 The federal investigation into the source of the nationwide Salmonella Egg outbreak is now focusing on the feed given to hens on the farm.

Officials believe it is possible that contaminated feed given to pullet chickens - those just too young to produce eggs - has created a generation of contaminated egg-laying hens.

More than 1,400 people have reported getting sick after eating eggs, mostly at restaurants and hotels, that have been linked to two Iowa hen farms owned by one family.

The feed was produced at a mill located at Wright County Egg and fed to pullets there and at Hillandale Farms, the two solely implicated in the recall. It’s not known if the feed produced a t Wright County Egg was sold to other farms.

At least a half-billion eggs have been recalled, some that have been packed as recently as last week.

The federal officials on-hand at the farms believe the feed became contaminated after it underwent a heat treatment to kill bacteria. Investigators reported finding Salmonella Enteritidis bacteria in the feed given to pullets as well as along walkways and in a barn at Wright County Egg.

An FDA spokesperson told CNN, “Feed were the sources (of the Salmonella bacteria), but perhaps not the only sources.” Bacteria was found in the food mill and in manure at Wright County Egg.

The federal investigation is expected to proceed to Hillandale Farms next week.

Wright County Egg is defending its reputation amid the speculation that its slipshod attention to safety led to the largest Salmonella Enteritidis outbreak in U.S. history. In statements to CNN, the company provided a possible reason for the feed contamination, pointing the finger of blame at third-party suppliers of materials for its feed mix.

The FDA spokesperson said regulators do not know how the feed was contaminated.

According to a Washington Post report, Austin DeCoster - the owner of Wright County Egg and Hillandale Farms in Iowa - once operated two massive hen farms on Maryland’s Eastern Shore in the early 1990s.

Maryland officials were unable to enforce a quarantine on two of DeCoster’s previous operations in the state because it circumvented the laws and sold eggs across state lines.

His Maryland farms were located in Kent County and once provided 3.5 million eggs to the national market during any given week. He successfully defended himself from a 1992 injunction against him to stop selling eggs produced at his farm after state officials determined his eggs were contaminated with Salmonella.

DeCoster’s current operations in Iowa are at the focus of an FDA investigation into an ongoing nationwide Salmonella outbreak. DeCoster’s farms have recalled more than a half-billion eggs since mid-August because they are likely contaminated with Salmonella bacteria.

At least 1,400 people have been confirmed as contracting Salmonella poisoning after eating contaminated eggs, but as many as 30,000 people could have already been infected.

DeCoster sold his hen farms soon after the legal victory in Maryland.

At least a half-billion eggs have been recalled by Wright County Egg and Hillandale Farms, the first of which was issued on Aug. 13. But according to a USA Today investigation, officials in Des Moines and with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Food and Drug Administration suspected the egg farms were linked to a growing outbreak two weeks before that first recall.

The CDC even delayed issuing generalized guidelines for safe egg eating habits until the FDA and the firm were ready to announce the recall.

At least 1,400 Salmonella infections reported to authorities have been linked to eggs produced by either of the two Iowa farms. Estimates show that only one of every 30 actual infections are ever reported, meaning as many as 30,000 people could have eaten and gotten sick from Salmonella contaminated eggs.

In late July, health officials in Minnesota and California each reported outbreaks of Salmonella Enteritidis among people who ate eggs at small restaurants. In each of those cases, the eggs were linked to Wright County Egg, and despite that information being relayed to federal officials, they remained mum for another two weeks.

The FDA didn’t contact Wright County Egg until two days prior to its first recall, and didn’t make any effective communications until hours before the recall.

To its defense, the FDA can not force a company to recall a product, unless it can prove beyond a doubt that it is linked to a public health threat. At least, that is what the FDA is using to defend itself on the apparent delay in action.

More than 1,400 people have reported getting sick after eating eggs from either Wright County Egg or Hillandale Farms. Nearly a half-billion eggs have been recalled and consumers may become confused by the dizzying array of brand names tied into the recall.

First, the FDA said identifying a carton of recalled eggs starts on the side of it featuring a Sell By date stamp, along with an alphanumeric code. Dates and codes can be found stamped on the packaging. The plant number begins with the letter “P”, followed by a number (P-1946 in the photo example). The Julian date follows the plant number (223 in the example).

Both the Plant number and the Julian date must match to correctly identify a carton of recalled eggs. Here is a break-down of the brands, Plant numbers and Julian dates of eggs included in the recall:

The FDA is encouraging consumers not to eat any under-cooked or runny eggs during the outbreak. Recalled eggs are potentially contaminated with Salmonella Enteritidis. Regulators received about 200 cases of Salmonella Enteritidis poisoning each week between late June and July, and the Centers for Disease Control is working with various states to collect other Salmonella infection information.

Only about one-fourth of all food poisoning cases are ever reported, as most people infected can often endure the symptoms at home and don’t require hospitalization or any professional care.

Regulators are also working to identify the source of the current outbreak, and have focused that investigation on the two Iowa farms at the center of the outbreak.

According to a recent USA Today report, the FDA is focusing on Wright County Egg and Hillandale Farms, both in Iowa, looking for a source of the contamination. It appears the recall of so many eggs is likely tied to just these two farms, but regulators are not excluding any possibilities.

The FDA does not know when it will have a source of the contamination. It has begun to center its attention in the investigation on Wright County Egg’s pullet operation. Pullets are young chicks raised until they’re old enough to begin laying eggs.

The pullet supplier for Wright County Egg has a sterling safety record - with no violations for 10 years - so investigators believe something at Wright and Hillandale is causing the bacterial infections, or causing the chickens to hatch contaminated eggs. We reported yesterday that a common ownership family exists between the two farms implicated in the recall. The DeCoster family, unlike the supplier of the pullets for its farms, has a marked past with the FDA and its safety rules, as well as with violating employee rights and being subjected to immigration raids at the sites.

Regulators have also added 40 more illnesses among people who ate contaminated eggs. Nationwide, more than 1,300 reports of illness have been linked to recalled eggs. The FDA has stopped eggs from leaving each farm until they find a source of the outbreak, and clear the operations for safety violations.

Eggs from these farms were sold to food wholesalers and distributors who often sell their products to food services, institutional kitchens and hotels and restaurants. The FDA is warning consumers not to eat any eggs appearing runny or under-cooked to avoid contracting Salmonella poisoning.

Recalled eggs are sold under the following brands: Albertson, Boomsma’s, Dutch Farms, Farm Fresh, Hillandale, Kemps, Lucerne, Lund, Mountain Dairy, Ralph’s, Shoreland, Sunshine and Trafficanda. The latest eggs to leave either farm were packed there within the last week, meaning all recalled eggs are not completely off the market.

Here is more detail on the information contained on packaging of recalled eggs, according to a USA Today primer on the recall: The eggs are in cartons from plant numbers 1026, 1413 and 1946, with dates ranging from 136 to 225. Dates and codes can be found stamped on the end of the egg carton. The plant number begins with P, then the number. The date follows the plant number.