Eggs recalled in salmonella outbreak after 79 people fall ill
1 of 5 | A California egg producer is recalling around 1.7 million eggs sold in retail stores in nine states because of salmonella concerns, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration confirmed. Photo courtesy of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration
A California egg producer is recalling around 1.7 million eggs sold in retail stores in nine states because of salmonella concerns, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration confirmed.
The FDA recall notice applies to brown cage free eggs produced by the August Egg Company, which is located in Hilmar, approximately 20 miles south of Modesto, Calif.
The eggs in question were sold between February 3 and May 15 and available at Save Mart, FoodMaxx, Lucky, Smart & Final, Safeway, Raleys, Food 4 Less and Ralphs locations in Nevada and California.
They also appeared on store shelves in Walmart retail locations in California, Washington, Nevada, Arizona, Wyoming, New Mexico, Nebraska, Indiana and Illinois between February 3 and May 6.
No deaths have been linked to the salmonella outbreak so far, but 79 people in seven states have gotten sick. That number includes 21 who were hospitalized, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The packages in question have the plant code number P-6562 or CA5330 printed on the package. The latest best before date on eggs sold in the Walmart stores is June 19, and is June 6 at the other Nevada and California retail locations.
Affected eggs can be disposed of or returned to stores.
Salmonella is a bacteria that can cause diarrhea, fever and stomach cramps 6 hours to 6 days after exposure to the bacteria, according to the CDC.
“The illness usually lasts four to seven days, and most people recover without treatment. In some people, the illness may be so severe that the patient is hospitalized,” according to the agency.
People under the age of five and older than 65 or with weakened immune systems are more likely to encounter severe illness if infected.
“It is important to know that when our processing plant identified this concern, we immediately began diverting all eggs from the plant to an egg-breaking facility, which pasteurizes the eggs and kills any pathogens,” the company said in the FDA notice.
“August Egg Company’s internal food safety team also is conducting its own stringent review to identify what measures can be established to prevent this situation from recurring. We are committed to addressing this matter fully and to implementing all necessary corrective actions to ensure this does not happen again.”