New US egg safety plans unveiled

 

 

US egg producers and government regulators are separately taking steps to improve egg safety in the wake of a nationwide salmonella outbreak.

 

Producers want nothing similar to happen like what occurred in Iowa, said Howard Magwire, vice president of government relations for the United Egg Producers. The trade group is developing safety standards for the industry that would go beyond federal regulations.

 

The recall by two Iowa egg farms exposed gaps in government oversight that had long frustrated consumer advocates. As a result of the outbreak, the Food and Drug Administration, which is primarily responsible for egg safety but has a limited force of inspectors, plans to train USDA personnel in how to catch potential problems at egg farms and to conduct inspections.

 

USDA personnel grade eggs for quality and regularly inspect the farms' packing facilities. The henhouses, where salmonella contamination often originates, are the food agency's responsibility.

 

The United Egg Producers is developing industry standards that will mirror the agency's production rules and go a step further by requiring participating producers to vaccinate all hens against salmonella.

 

Because of contamination that the food agency found in feed at one of the Iowa operations, the producers' group also is considering writing sanitation standards for feedmills, Magwire said.

 

Two Iowa producers, Wright County Egg and Hillandale Farms of Iowa, recalled 550 million eggs in August after they were linked to salmonella illnesses dating to May. More than 1,500 reported illnesses were linked to the outbreak, federal officials said.

 

FDA investigators found violations of federal egg-safety rules that had taken effect in July. Live mice, which can carry salmonella bacteria, were found around the Wright County farms, and barns had numerous openings that could let in other rodents. Some doors had been forced open by manure piles. Tests found salmonella in a feed ingredient and in various areas around the farms.

 

Hillandale Farms, which has since been allowed to resume operations, used hens and feed provided by Wright County Egg, which is owned by Jack DeCoster, who has a history of food-safety and environmental problems.

 

Food safety advocates have criticized the way regulators oversee egg production. The USDA Agricultural Marketing Service, for example, has personnel on site at egg farms to grade eggs and sends inspectors to farms regularly to check for the cleanliness of packing facilities.

 

But the FDA, while overseeing henhouses, rarely inspected farms because officials said they, until July, did not have any standards that producers had to meet. Many states, including Iowa, the largest producer of eggs, conducted no inspections, either.

 

After the recall, the FDA announced plans to inspect every major farm in the nation, starting with operations that have had past trouble with government officials. And it is working on coordinating oversight with the USDA. Sixteen inspections had been carried out by midmonth. The agency expects to conduct about 600 inspections in the next 14 months.

 

Meanwhile, the USDA and FDA have given themselves until November 30 to come up with a plan for training employees to spot food-safety problems, according to a September 15 letter.