The F.D.A. has now cleared parts of an Iowa egg farm at the center of a salmonella outbreak to begin shipping whole eggs once again. The F.D.A. says it has notified Wright County Egg of Galt that it can resume shipping eggs from two hen houses on one of its six farms.
Wright County Egg stopped shipping whole eggs in August after the multi-state outbreak of salmonella poisoning. F.D.A. commissioner Margaret Hamburg said in a statement that after four months of “intensive work by the company, and oversight, testing and inspections by the F.D.A.” the eggs are safe to ship.
Hamburg says the company removed contaminated hens and cleaned and sanitized their houses, and a biosecurity plan has been implemented to minimize the risk of contamination from other houses. The F.D.A. also says the severe rodent problem has been corrected and the feed mill was cleaned and disinfected to eliminate contaminated feed.
The F.D.A. says over the past six weeks they collected and analyzed 40 feed samples, 236 environmental samples and 13,900 shell eggs, and determined eggs could be shipped from the two houses. The F.D.A. says it will continue to conduct environmental and egg sampling and will conduct periodic inspections to verify the effectiveness of the safety measures in place.
The F.D.A. says it corrective actions continue to be implemented for Wright County Egg’s remaining houses. The agency says it will work with Wright County Egg officials to assure appropriate steps are taken before permitting resumption of shipping from the other houses and farms.
See the F.D.A. letter to Wright County Egg farm here: www.fda.gov/downloads/food/NewsEvents/WhatsNewinFood/ucm235213.pdf