Congresswoman Rosa DeLauro (D-CT) wrote a letter to the FDA Commissioner Scott Gottlieb last week, asking for more information on the Salmonella outbreak that is linked to shell eggs from Rose Acre Farms. That outbreak has sickened at least 23 people in 9 states.
Rose Acre Farms recalled more than 200,000,000 eggs earlier this month because they may be contaminated with Salmonella Braenderup. DeLauro wrote, “FDA records reveal that the company’s Hyde County location was inspected in the weeks leading up to the recall – from March 26 to April 11, 2018. The reports show serious violations of food safety standards that are designed to safeguard public health. Consumers and their families deserve a safe food supply, and that requires that FDA act adequately and timely to address problems that may lead to product contamination and foodborne illnesses.”
Specific violations included an ongoing rodent infestation from September 2017, insanitary conditions, and poor employee practices that created an environment for “proliferation and spread of filth and pathogens throughout the facility,” and equipment that had accumulated food debris and grime after sanitation.
Those violations were recorded more than two weeks before the recall was issued. The letter states, “Consumers and their families deserve a safe food supply, and that requires that FDA act adequately and timely to address problems that may lead to product contamination and foodborne illness.”
Rep. DeLauro had some questions for Gottlieb. She asked if before the March inspections, what was the FDA’s involvement with state food safety inspectors about the Hyde County facility? And when was the last time that facility was inspected by the state? She also wants to know what actions FDA took right after the inspections that found food safety violations, and why FDA didn’t take enforcement action after observing those violations.
Test results that were positive for Salmonella bacteria were received by the FDA on April 11, 2018. DeLauro wants to know when FDA notified the company of these test results, and why it took Rose Acre Farms two days to issue a voluntary recall. Finally, she want so know if federal employees were working in the Rose Acre Farms facility, such as egg graders, and if they ever issued reports of unsanitary conditions.
The last time a recall this large was issued was in 2010, when a huge Salmonella outbreak linked to eggs sickened more than 1,900 people. DeLauro writes, “The size of this recall makes it the largest since a similar, egg-related Salmonella outbreak in 2010.”
