18 US. states affected by salmonella-related egg recall
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Pastor Dale Morgan
Aug 25, 2010, 7:50:19 AM8/25/10
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Plagues, Pestilences and Diseases
18 US. states affected by salmonella-related egg recall
By the CNN Wire Staff
August 25, 2010 3:19 a.m. EDT
STORY HIGHLIGHTS
* NEW: Michigan is added to the list of states facing recall
* About 1,300 cases of salmonella are linked to eggs
* Inspections continue, but no further recalls expected, FDA says
* The head of the National Black Farmers Association says more inspections were needed
(CNN) -- Eighteen states are now affected by a national egg recall after Michigan joined the ranks, and the issue will likely be addressed Wednesday by the director of the CDC.
The Michigan Department of Agriculture said Tuesday that eggs associated with the recall have been distributed in the state.
Meanwhile, Thomas R. Frieden, the director of Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, is slated to address the Atlanta Press Club on Wednesday and is likely to address the issue.
As the federal government investigates the egg recall and the related salmonella outbreak that it says has sickened about 1,300 Americans, the regulatory process is coming under scrutiny from the agencies responsible and people affected by the food safety crisis.
Bill Marler, who represents 35 families whose members contracted salmonella, said on Tuesday that "one of the things about civil litigation and what I do is we fill in where the government has failed. And even [Food and Drug Administration] Commissioner [Margaret] Hamburg yesterday certainly admitted that the FDA and USDA didn't have the resources to do the kind of inspection on this plant. And many times we have to come in, sometimes lawyers, sometimes the media, to shine the light on the problems and to try to get it corrected."
Speaking on a conference call with reporters Monday afternoon, Hamburg said federal regulations that took effect in July could have prevented the recall.
The new regulations went into effect July 9, requiring egg producers with more than 3,000 hens to take measures designed to prevent the spread of salmonella. The current outbreak began in May and was traced to two Iowa farms, according to the FDA.
One of them, Wright County Egg, has recalled 380 million eggs; the other, Hillandale Farms, recalled 170 million eggs.
"We believe that had these rules been in place at an earlier time, it would have very likely enabled us to identify the problems on this farm before this kind of outbreak occurred," Hamburg said.
While FDA inspectors typically didn't inspect farms until after an outbreak of illness, Jeff Farrar, the associate commissioner for food safety at the Food and Drug Administration, said under the new rule, "We will be beginning routine inspections of egg farms throughout the United States."
Food safety regulators don't expect any more recalls after last week's withdrawal of about 550 million eggs from the U.S. market, but inspections are still going on.
Farrar would not release details of the inspections, which also involve a third operation that supplied the two egg producers, but the results could be released later this week, he said.
John Boyd Jr., the founder and president of the National Black Farmers Association, said the action is too little, too late.
"The bottom line here is there should have been more inspections before the outbreak. I know Congress is looking at a bill passing...legislation to bring more enforcement," said Boyd, who said he's been a poultry farmer for 14 years.
Supporters of a long-stalled bill to bolster the safety of the nation's food supply are hoping the egg-linked salmonella outbreak will give them momentum to pass their bill in the Senate as early as next month.
The bipartisan bill would give new powers and resources to the FDA to crack down on risky food suppliers in the United States and abroad. For instance, in the current situation, the FDA could quickly order direct recalls of suspected eggs instead of relying on voluntary recalls by the manufacturers.
The bill aims to increase the number of inspections at U.S. and foreign facilities and improve the FDA's surveillance of food-borne illnesses. It would boost the agency's ability to track suspected foods and remove them from stores more quickly.
In addition to allowing the FDA to recall tainted foods, the bill grants the agency the ability to shut down a plant if there is "reasonable probability that food from the facility will cause serious adverse health consequences or death," according to a Senate summary of the bill.
The measure is likely to gain broad support from Democrats and Republicans. A bipartisan group of senators reached an agreement on a final compromise earlier this month, several Senate aides from both sides of the aisle said Monday.
Democratic leaders are trying to schedule a vote in the next several weeks, sometime before the mid-term elections, Democratic aides said.
If the Senate passes the bill, it will have to be melded with the somewhat different House bill.
While the recall involves hundreds of millions of eggs, they represent less than 1 percent of the 80 billion eggs produced in the United States each year, said Krista Eberle, director of the food safety program at the Egg Safety Center, a trade association entity.
CNN Congressional Producer Ted Barrett contributed to this report
18 US. states affected by salmonella-related egg recall
By the CNN Wire Staff
August 25, 2010 3:19 a.m. EDT
STORY HIGHLIGHTS
* NEW: Michigan is added to the list of states facing recall
* About 1,300 cases of salmonella are linked to eggs
* Inspections continue, but no further recalls expected, FDA says
* The head of the National Black Farmers Association says more inspections were needed
(CNN) -- Eighteen states are now affected by a national egg recall after Michigan joined the ranks, and the issue will likely be addressed Wednesday by the director of the CDC.
The Michigan Department of Agriculture said Tuesday that eggs associated with the recall have been distributed in the state.
Meanwhile, Thomas R. Frieden, the director of Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, is slated to address the Atlanta Press Club on Wednesday and is likely to address the issue.
As the federal government investigates the egg recall and the related salmonella outbreak that it says has sickened about 1,300 Americans, the regulatory process is coming under scrutiny from the agencies responsible and people affected by the food safety crisis.
Bill Marler, who represents 35 families whose members contracted salmonella, said on Tuesday that "one of the things about civil litigation and what I do is we fill in where the government has failed. And even [Food and Drug Administration] Commissioner [Margaret] Hamburg yesterday certainly admitted that the FDA and USDA didn't have the resources to do the kind of inspection on this plant. And many times we have to come in, sometimes lawyers, sometimes the media, to shine the light on the problems and to try to get it corrected."
Speaking on a conference call with reporters Monday afternoon, Hamburg said federal regulations that took effect in July could have prevented the recall.
The new regulations went into effect July 9, requiring egg producers with more than 3,000 hens to take measures designed to prevent the spread of salmonella. The current outbreak began in May and was traced to two Iowa farms, according to the FDA.
One of them, Wright County Egg, has recalled 380 million eggs; the other, Hillandale Farms, recalled 170 million eggs.
"We believe that had these rules been in place at an earlier time, it would have very likely enabled us to identify the problems on this farm before this kind of outbreak occurred," Hamburg said.
While FDA inspectors typically didn't inspect farms until after an outbreak of illness, Jeff Farrar, the associate commissioner for food safety at the Food and Drug Administration, said under the new rule, "We will be beginning routine inspections of egg farms throughout the United States."
Food safety regulators don't expect any more recalls after last week's withdrawal of about 550 million eggs from the U.S. market, but inspections are still going on.
Farrar would not release details of the inspections, which also involve a third operation that supplied the two egg producers, but the results could be released later this week, he said.
John Boyd Jr., the founder and president of the National Black Farmers Association, said the action is too little, too late.
"The bottom line here is there should have been more inspections before the outbreak. I know Congress is looking at a bill passing...legislation to bring more enforcement," said Boyd, who said he's been a poultry farmer for 14 years.
Supporters of a long-stalled bill to bolster the safety of the nation's food supply are hoping the egg-linked salmonella outbreak will give them momentum to pass their bill in the Senate as early as next month.
The bipartisan bill would give new powers and resources to the FDA to crack down on risky food suppliers in the United States and abroad. For instance, in the current situation, the FDA could quickly order direct recalls of suspected eggs instead of relying on voluntary recalls by the manufacturers.
The bill aims to increase the number of inspections at U.S. and foreign facilities and improve the FDA's surveillance of food-borne illnesses. It would boost the agency's ability to track suspected foods and remove them from stores more quickly.
In addition to allowing the FDA to recall tainted foods, the bill grants the agency the ability to shut down a plant if there is "reasonable probability that food from the facility will cause serious adverse health consequences or death," according to a Senate summary of the bill.
The measure is likely to gain broad support from Democrats and Republicans. A bipartisan group of senators reached an agreement on a final compromise earlier this month, several Senate aides from both sides of the aisle said Monday.
Democratic leaders are trying to schedule a vote in the next several weeks, sometime before the mid-term elections, Democratic aides said.
If the Senate passes the bill, it will have to be melded with the somewhat different House bill.
While the recall involves hundreds of millions of eggs, they represent less than 1 percent of the 80 billion eggs produced in the United States each year, said Krista Eberle, director of the food safety program at the Egg Safety Center, a trade association entity.
CNN Congressional Producer Ted Barrett contributed to this report
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