US agencies delayed action on tainted eggs for weeks

[Hannah Bell]

United States federal agencies delayed action for weeks after becoming aware of a salmonella outbreak that has thus far infected thousands of people, while the companies involved were allowed to continue operations. The revelation comes as the US egg recall has expanded to include two new brand names connected to Wright County Egg, the Iowa-based company responsible for 380 million of the 550 million eggs recalled to date. More information continues to come to light as well of Wright County’s long record of violations of food and workplace safety and animal cruelty...The recall now encompasses 23 of 50 US states.

In a conference call on Thursday, officials from the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) said that feed given to hens at both Wright County and Hillandale is the likely source of the salmonella. Chicken feed and some feed ingredients are believed to have been contaminated, possibly after heat treatment of the feed to kill off the bacteria. The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) says the salmonella outbreak has sickened about 2,430 people in the US between May 1 and August 25 of this year, although the government agency admits that the extent of illness is likely underreported by a factor of as much as 40.

On July 29, the California Department of Health sent a notice to the CDC and the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) warning of their suspicion of a connection between the salmonella and Wright County Egg. CNN reports that Michael Sicilia, a spokesman for the state health department, “said the alert helped confirm the suspicions of officials in other states who were also investigating a surge in salmonella cases.” However, although the Iowa egg company had been identified as the likely source of the salmonella outbreak, it was not until more than two weeks later—August 13—that Wright County enacted a partial recall of eggs from three of its five farms. The company was compelled to conduct a company-wide recall following exposure by federal epidemiologists of links to its other two farms...

Tellingly, the New York Times reports that the FDA has said it has “no inspectional history” with the two Iowa egg companies linked to the salmonella-tainted eggs—i.e., FDA inspectors have apparently never set foot on their property.

http://www.wsws.org/articles/2010/aug2010/eggs-a27.shtml

[madrchsod]

1. no one inspected the plant? well that`s no big surprise.

no one in the state or federal government can decide who is responsible for inspecting these farms.

now if this was a islamic terrorist strike that sicken all these people there would be public lynchings across the country. this guy will be fined,inspected a few times,then it will be business as usual.

[Hannah Bell]

2. kik

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

3. Not a reliable source.

These kind of investigations take time. The article implies some sort of impropriety from the CDC, FDA, and USDA, but offers no good evidence of such.

[Hannah Bell]

4. the info quoted comes from cdc, fda, nyt. try again.