Egg recall spurs food safety debate

by Kimberly Atkins The Daily Record Newswire After an Iowa egg producer and the Food and Drug Administration announced the nationwide recall of more than 500 million shell eggs in connection with a salmonella outbreak that has sickened more than 1,000 people, lawmakers are calling for laws to boost food safety procedures. The FDA identified Iowa distribution companies Wright County Egg and Hillandale Farms as sources of contaminated shell eggs. The eggs are packaged under different brand names and distributed nationwide, the FDA warned. Rep. Rosa L. DeLauro, D-Conn, said Friday that the outbreak and subsequent illnesses demonstrate the need for legislation boosting federal authorities' ability to prevent and respond to unsafe food. The current system, under which several separate agencies have overlapping authority, prevents swift action, DeLauro said. ''Because [the] USDA is responsible for egg safety at processing plants, it is troubling that FDA is the lead agency in this investigation even though it has never inspected the Wright County Egg facility,'' DeLauro said in a statement. ''Instead of reinforcing each other's work, the current food safety system of split jurisdiction appears to have resulted in a disjointed inspection process.'' DeLauro said the outbreak demonstrates the need for Congress to act to toughen food safety and inspection laws, echoing a call made by other lawmakers after other recent salmonella outbreaks. FDA officials have said they lack the tools necessary to prevent such outbreaks. Speaking to NBC News, FDA chief Margaret Hamburg said Monday that the outbreak could lead to additional secondary recalls of products made with the affected eggs. Those recalls could take place over the next few moths or even weeks, she said. Lawsuits are already being filed in connection with the egg salmonella outbreak. In what is believed to be the first suit filed, a woman claims to have fallen ill after eating eggs at a Wisconsin restaurant that were distributed by Wright County Egg. She is represented by Seattle-based food safety law firm Marler Clark. Published: Mon, Oct 4, 2010

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