FDA Raises Salmonella Egg Recall to Class I as Nearly 100 Fall Ill Across 17 States
Key Takeaways
- •The FDA classified the egg recall as Class I, its most serious recall category, because exposure could cause severe illness or death.
- •Nearly 98 people have been sickened in 17 states, and 26 of those cases required hospitalization.
- •The recall involves 1,589,577 dozen cartons of white shell eggs and brown cage-free shell eggs produced at two Texas farms.
- •The recalled eggs were sold under brands including Kroger, Brookshire's, Country Morning, Simple Truth, and Sunups.
- •Texas reported 73 of the illnesses, and the FDA said the products may have been distributed beyond the states already confirmed.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has elevated its egg recall to the highest risk level, weeks after more than 1.5 million cartons of one-dozen eggs were recalled due to the risk of salmonella.
On Wednesday, the recall was upgraded to Class I, a designation that signifies "a situation in which there is a reasonable probability that the use of or exposure to a violative product will cause serious adverse health consequences or death." Class I sits at the top of the FDA's three-tier recall system: Class II is applied when a product may cause temporary or medically reversible harm, and Class III when a violation is unlikely to affect health.
The change comes as nearly 98 people have been sickened across 17 states, with 26 hospitalizations, according to a July 24 update from the FDA. No deaths have been reported.
Officials said the recalled products were sold under several brands, including Kroger, Brookshire's, Country Morning, Simple Truth, and Sunups, as well as various bulk Grade A and Grade AA eggs. The eggs were distributed to retail and food service customers in Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Louisiana, New Mexico, and Mississippi, in addition to other smaller retail outlets, the FDA said.
The vast majority of illnesses — 73 — occurred in Texas. Customers in California, Nevada, Arizona, New Mexico, Colorado, Oklahoma, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Illinois, Minnesota, Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina, New York, and West Virginia each reported a handful of cases.
The FDA noted that distribution of the recalled eggs "has been confirmed for states listed, but product could have been distributed further, reaching additional states."
Midwest Poultry Services initiated the voluntary recall in the last week of July. It affects 1,589,577 dozen cartons of white shell eggs and brown cage-free shell eggs produced at two farms in Texas, according to the FDA. Officials said the issue was discovered during routine environmental testing. Such testing is a core requirement of the FDA's Egg Safety Rule, in place since 2009, which obliges producers with at least 3,000 laying hens to take prevention measures against Salmonella Enteritidis — the strain most commonly tied to eggs — including environmental testing and refrigeration at 45 degrees Fahrenheit or colder during storage and transport.
For consumers, salmonella infection typically causes diarrhea, fever, and stomach cramps that begin six hours to six days after exposure and last four to seven days, according to the CDC. Most people recover without treatment, but children under 5, adults 65 and older, and people with weakened immune systems face a higher risk of severe illness. The CDC urges shoppers not to eat recalled eggs and to throw them away or return them to the store, and to seek medical care for severe symptoms such as a fever above 102 degrees Fahrenheit or signs of dehydration.
The salmonella scare comes amid a deadly outbreak of cyclosporiasis linked to lettuce that causes explosive diarrhea.
Fox Business' Bonny Chu contributed to this report.
Source: Fox Business
