A letter from the F.D.A. urges Iowan Austin “Jack” DeCoster to take immediate action to eliminate the salmonella contamination of eggs which is blamed for sickening 1,6000 people. DeCoster is the owner of Wright County Egg, the company where the salmonella problem was first reported in August.
The firm has not been allowed to sell shell eggs since the salmonella was linked to the egg farms near Clarion. The FDA is warning DeCoster that the egg facilities could be shut down if the problem is not rectified. In addition, the FDA has informed Hillandale Farms that it could resume selling their eggs from three hen houses at West Union after inspections were completed last week.
The inspections confirmed there were negative traces of salmonella with the corrective actions taken by the company. The Hillandale Farm firm will not be shipping shell eggs from four other hen houses to consumers until they undergo four rounds of testing and two more buildings must be disinfected before housing new flocks of chickens.
By Pat Powers, KQWC, Webster City