April 15 (UPI) — More than 200 million eggs under a farm’s numerous brand names have been recalled because of fears of salmonella fears, the Food and Drug Administration announced.
The FDA in a release Friday said 22 illnesses have linked to the eggs distributed from Rose Acre Farms’ facility in North Carolina.
Rose Acre Farms, with headquarters in Seymour, Ind., distributed the eggs to retail stores and restaurants in nine states — Colorado, Florida, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Virginia and West Virginia.
They were sold under the brands Country Daybreak, Crystal Farms, Coburn Farms, Sunshine Farms, Glenview, Great Value as well as at Walmart and Food Lion stores. The plant number is P-105, with the Julian date range of 011 through 012 printed on either side of the carton or package.
It’s the largest egg recall in the United States since 2010, according to Food Safety News.
Consumers are urged to immediately discontinue use of the recalled eggs and to return them to the place of purchase for a full refund. Consumers may contact the company at (855) 215-5730 between the hours of 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. EDT.
The FDA said some illnesses were reported on the U.S. East Coast. The agency inspected the farm, which produces 2.3 million eggs a day from 3 million laying hens.
The FDA said the eggs can potentially be contaminated with Salmonella Braenderup, which is an organism that could cause serious and sometimes fatal infections in young children, frail or elderly people, and others with weakened immune systems. Also, healthy individuals infected with Salmonella Braenderup can experience fever, diarrhea, nausea, vomiting and abdominal pain.
David Rust began Rose Acre Farms in Indiana as a family operation with 1,000 hens in the 1930s and it grew to 17 facilities in eight states, according to its website.
In 2010, more than 550 million table eggs were called from two Iowa egg farms owned by Austin “Jack” DeCoster. Jack and his son Peter DeCoster each plead guilty to one count of allowing misbranded and adultered food to enter interstate commerce.The men and their company, Quality Egg LLC ended up paying $7 million in fines and they served three months in federal prison.
