Houston Personal Injury Attorney Discusses Recent Salmonella Outbreak

Over the last few months, an outbreak of contaminated eggs has resulted in the recall of 380 million eggs and hundreds of cases of salmonella throughout the nation, with the majority of the investigation focused on eggs in California, Colorado, Minnesota, and right here in Texas.

“Investigators have been examining cases reported in Tarrant County, Collin County, Dallas County, and Denton County,” explains Houston personal injury attorney Brian Beckcom.

When purchasing eggs at the grocery store, avoid these brands: Albertsons, Farm Fresh, Glenview, Mountain Dairy, Ralphs, Boomsma, Lund, Pacific Coast, and Kemp. The plant number located under the sell-by date can also identify eggs that have been recalled due to contamination: P-1720, P-1942, P-1026, P-1413, and P-1946.

The source of the contaminated eggs was repeat-offender Wright County Farms in Galt, Iowa, a farm that has been sited for contamination violations on numerous occasions and fined millions of dollars over the years. Contaminated eggs have also been traced back to Hillandale Farms, another massive egg producer in Iowa. These two farms account for 95% of the country’s eggs, reported The Washington Post.

Many of the contaminated eggs recalled in California came from an egg marketer, Moark, supplied by Hillandale Farms. The 291,600 recalled eggs were sold under the aforementioned brand names, as well as Yucaipa Valley and Farmer’s Gems. The fact that wholesalers and distributers usually package their eggs under names other than their own posed a challenge to U.S. Food and Drug Administration officials attempting to trace the source of the contaminated eggs.

“While California is a major consumer of eggs,” explained California injury lawyer James Ballidis, “one-third of the eggs sold here come from other states, with 40% from Iowa. Over 250 cases of salmonella have been recorded here.” See his article on Salmonella related recalls.

In many cases, the manufacturers, growers, distributers, and restaurateurs may be held accountable for contaminated foods that have caused illnesses in consumers.