UPDATE: Egg recall expands to second producer

On Thursday Federal officials said he salmonella outbreak that had led to the recall of 380 million shell eggs was likely grow, as will the number of illnesses. On Friday, August 20, Iowa's Hillandale Farms said it was recalling more than 170 million eggs laboratory tests confirmed salmonella. An FDA spokesperson said the two recalls are related. The strain of salmonella bacteria causing the poisoning is the same in both cases, salmonella enteritidis.
The eggs recalled Friday were distributed under the brand names Hillandale Farms, Sunny Farms and Sunny Meadow. The new recall applies to eggs sold between April and August. Hillandale said the eggs were distributed to grocery distribution centers, retail groceries and food service companies that serve or are located in 14 states: Kansas, Arkansas, California, Iowa, Illinois, Indiana, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, Ohio, South Dakota, Texas, and Wisconsin.According to a CNN report, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) report that 1,953 cases of Salmonellaenteritidis were recorded from May 1 to July 31. While it's not certain how many of those cases can be attributed to the recalled eggs, a normal number of cases in that time period would be closer to 700, said Dr. Christopher Braden, acting director of the CDC's division of food-borne, waterborne and environmental diseases. Further, that number is expected to grow as infections happening after July 17 might not have been reported yet.
The nationwide recall involves more than a dozen brands of eggs from Iowa-based Wright County Egg. The recall specifically relates to eggs packed between May 16 and Aug. 13, with Julian dates ranging from 136 to 229 and plant numbers 1026, 1413, 1720, 1942 and 1946. Brand names include: Lucerne, Sunshine, Hillandale, Trafficanda, Farm Fresh, Shoreland, Dutch Farms, James Farms, Glenview, Mountain Dairy, Ralphs, Boomsma, Lund, Kemps and Pacific Coast, in varying sizes of cartons (six-egg cartons, dozen-egg cartons, 18-egg cartons and loose eggs for institutional use and repackaging).
Eggs affected by the recall were distributed to food wholesalers, distribution centers and foodservice companies in California, Arizona, Missouri, Minnesota, Texas, Georgia, Washington, Oregon, Colorado, Nevada, Iowa, Illinois, Utah, Nebraska, Arkansas, Wisconsin and Oklahoma. These companies distribute nationwide.
According to the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), new safety rules for large-scale producers were announced on July 9, but that announcement seems to have come after the salmonella outbreak began. "The outbreak could have been prevented," said FDA Spokeswoman Sherri McGarry. "The egg safety rule is in a phase-in approach, but there are measures that would have been in place that could have prevented this if it [had] been placed earlier than July."
Wright County Egg released the following statement: "Wright County Egg is fully cooperating with FDA's investigation by undertaking this voluntary recall. Our primary concern is keeping salmonella out of the food supply and away from consumers. As a precautionary measure, Wright County Egg also has decided to divert its existing inventory of shell eggs from the recalled plants to a breaker, where they will be pasteurized to kill any salmonella bacteria present."
Contaminated eggs should not be eaten, but rather disposed of or returned to the store from which they were purchased for a full refund. Wright County Egg has set up a message outlining recall instructions for consumers at +1.866.272.5582.
Additional information is available through the Egg Safety Center. State-by-state updates on the situation can be found here.