GALT, Iowa, Nov. 30 (UPI) -- The federal government said Tuesday it has allowed an Iowa company responsible for a huge salmonella-triggered recall of eggs to resume shipments.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration said Wright County Egg LLC of Galt, Iowa, has been given the green light to begin shipping shell eggs directly to the consumer market from two hen houses on one of its six farms.
The firm had not been shipping eggs since August, when its eggs were associated with a multi-state outbreak of salmonella enteritidis that sickened nearly 2,000 people. About a half billion eggs were recalled by Wright County Egg and Hillandale Farms.
"During the outbreak, I said that FDA would not agree to the sale of eggs to consumers from Wright County Egg until we had confidence that they could be shipped and consumed safely," said FDA Commissioner Margaret A. Hamburg. "After four months of intensive work by the company and oversight, testing, and inspections by FDA, I am satisfied that time has come."
The FDA said it had verified the company has taken necessary corrective measures in the two hen houses to address concerns about sanitation, infected young chickens, rodents and contaminated feed.
"These extensive corrective actions address the significant contamination problems and support the resumption of distribution of eggs to the table market from these two hen houses," Don Kraemer, deputy director of FDA's Center for Food Safety and Nutrition, said in a release.
The FDA said it will continue environmental and egg sampling, and do periodic inspections to verify the effectiveness of the safety measures in place.
Corrective actions are still being implemented at Wright County Egg's remaining houses, operating on six farms.
