FDA warns egg company to clean up or be shut down

By MARY CLARE JALONICK

WASHINGTON

The Food and Drug Administration has warned an Iowa egg company that it could be shut down if it doesn't clean up its act after recalling hundreds of millions of eggs this summer.

But the FDA also informed Hillandale Farms, the second company involved in the August egg recall, that it could resume selling eggs from three hen houses at its West Union, Iowa, facility. The OK came after the agency conducted a two-day inspection from Oct. 13-15 at the site.

However, Hillandale Farms is prohibited from selling shell eggs produced in six of the hen houses at the farm. According to the letter of Oct. 15, Hillandale agreed to clean and disinfect houses 1 and 2 before putting a new hens in those buildings, and eggs produced in houses 4,6,8,9 still need to go through four rounds of egg testing before they can be sold in the U.S.

On Oct. 15, the FDA sent a letter to Austin "Jack" DeCoster, owner of Iowa's Wright County Egg, urging him to take "prompt and aggressive actions" to eliminate salmonella contamination thought to have sickened 1,600 people this year. The FDA said it will reinspect the farm and could seize products or shut down the company if corrective action hasn't been taken.

The company has not been allowed to sell shell eggs since the salmonella was linked to the farms in August.

The company did not respond immediately to a request for comment.