Salmonella in Eggs: CDC Update and Rambling

Tainted eggs may still be on a few grocery shelves, in some restaurant kitchens, and in somebody's refrigerator. The United States is a big country, and those recalls will almost certainly have been missed by someone, somewhere.

Here's what the Lemming found, after a quick look around:

Tainted Egg Update from the CDC

"Investigation Update: Multistate Outbreak of Human Salmonella Enteritidis Infections Associated with Shell Eggs"
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (updated September 2, 2010)

"...Today's Highlights

• "From May 1 to August 31, 2010, approximately 1,469 illnesses were reported that are likely to be associated with this outbreak.
• "FDA identified Salmonella with PFGE patterns indistinguishable from the outbreak strain in egg farm environmental samples.
• "Don't eat recalled eggs. Recalled eggs might still be in grocery stores, restaurants, and consumers' homes. Consumers who have recalled eggs should discard them or return them to their retailer for a refund. A searchable database of products affected by the recall is available to consumers.
• "Individuals who think they might have become ill from eating recalled eggs should consult their health care providers.

There's quite a bit more on that CDC page - possibly more than you want to know about the SNAFU with salmonella in eggs. Still, it doesn't hurt to be informed.

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"Egg Recall Expands"
MyFOX9.com (September 4, 2010)

"A Minnesota-based packaging company is expanding its recall of extra-large, white shell eggs.

"Sparboe Farms of Litchfield is recalling those particular eggs produced by Hillandale Farms and re-packaged by Sparboe Farms because they have the potential to be contaminated with salmonella...."

The key word here is potential. Nobody's gotten sick from eating the eggs: and it looks like Sparboe Farms is determined to keep it that way.

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"Former Egg Farm Employees Say Their Complaints Were Ignored: Report"
Bloomberg Businessweek (September 3, 2010)

"Two former workers at one of the two Iowa egg farms implicated in the massive recall of salmonella-contaminated eggs said federal inspectors who worked at the two farms ignored complaints about conditions at one of the sites, the Associated Press reported Friday.

"The two workers, employed at Wright County Egg facilities, said they reported problems such as leaking manure and dead chickens to U.S. Department of Agriculture employees, but nothing was done, the news service reported...."

The USDA's response apparently is 'reports? We don't remember any reports.'

I've written about this sort of thing before:

• "Salmonella in Eggs: Let the Blames Begin"
  (September 2, 2010)
• "Salmonella in Eggs: What Happens When Nobody's In Charge"
  (August 24, 2010)

The investigation is going to go on for months - at least - but right now it looks like we've got another situation where a food production business was run by a nitwit who didn't realize that poisoning the end user is bad for business. Remember the deplorable case of Peanut Corporation of America, rat poo in peanut products, and a few dead people? That company isn't in business any more, by the way.

On the other hand, there's the farm in Hawaii whose supporters claim is 'too big to fail.' And that's another topic. (FoxNews (September 4, 2010))

Coming Next: Something Completely Different

Check back in about an hour: The Lemming's lining up something about otters.

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Related posts:

• "Salmonella In Eggs: It's Enough to Make You Sick"