FDA identifies violations in Iowa recall case

Feedstuffs 8/30/2010
Rod Smith

The Food & Drug Administration, in a conference call with reporters this afternoon, said FDA investigators have found several violations of the agency's new food safety rule at the two Iowa egg farms that are at the center of the egg recall associated with an outbreak of salmonella-related foodborne illness.

FDA officials said these include allowing access points to exist to hen houses for flies, rodents and wild animals and bird nests in buildings.

They said investigators also found that employees going from house to house did not change protective clothing and that equipment moved from site to site was not being sanitized. At one farm, hens outside their cages were tracking manure throughout their facilities.

FDA also said it has identified a positive sample for the Salmonella enteritidis fingerprinted in the recall in spent egg wash water at one of the farms.

Importantly, FDA deputy commissioner Mike Taylor emphasized that there "is no reason" to believe that the conditions at the two farms are indicative of industrywide practices. The two farms are owned by the same individual.

Taylor also called for passage of food safety legislation in Congress that would give FDA more access to records and mandatory recall authority.