MU avoids egg recall dangers
The salmonella outbreak has sickened 1,500 nationwide.
Published Sept. 10, 2010
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Senior Jenny Scholle looks over eggs at the Hy-Vee grocery store on Nifong Boulevard on Sept. 1. Hy-Vee stores were not affected by the national egg recall that included over half a billion eggs from two Iowa farms.
MU students and Columbia residents have largely been spared from a nationwide egg recall that has come to include about 550 million eggs.
As of Sept. 1, Wright County Egg, Trafficanda Egg Ranch and Hillandale Farms, all based out of central Iowa, have expanded their egg recall to include half a billion eggs, due to the threat of salmonella contamination, according to a news release from the Food and Drug Administration. The FDA did not return requests for comment.
Recalled brands include Lucerne, Albertsons, Mountain Dairy, Ralph’s, Boomsma’s, Sunshine, Hillandale, Trafficanda, Farm Fresh, Shoreland, Lund, Dutch Farms and Kemp. The FDA’s news release also said contaminated eggs were distributed to food centers in Missouri.
But only some eggs from the brands may be contaminated. Consumers can find out if the eggs they own are part of the recall by checking numbers on the carton against a list on the FDA’s website.
Campus Dining Services Marketing Director Andrew Lough said CDS gets its eggs from another farm called Rose Acre, which is not covered by the recall.
“CDS currently is not affected by the egg recall,” Lough said. “We have been working with our distributors to kind of check the sourcing on all our egg products to ensure that they are safe and not included in this round of recall. We’re going to continue to work with them and watch how the situation updates.”
Lough said in an e-mail that MU’s egg distributor has been helpful and proactive in keeping MU involved.
Sandy Perley, coordinator of purchasing quality and control for CDS, said in an e-mail that all of MU’s campus food operations purchase their eggs through the U.S. Food Service, Allen Division, in St. Louis.
“USF has a very sophisticated recall system that notifies any customers that may have purchased any item that is on a recall,” Perley said. “A majority of the fresh shell eggs used by Campus Dining Services are cage-free eggs purchased from Rose Acre Farms in Illinois.”
Hy-Vee Assistant Store Director Matt Rohe said the Broadway location hasn't received any complaints about contaminated eggs from customers yet. He said Hy-Vee’s everyday “major label” eggs have not been affected by the recall.
Salmonella, the main health concern associated with the contaminated eggs, is an infection particularly dangerous to very young and elderly people because of its effect on the immune system, according to a news release by the FDA.
Those infected may experience fever, diarrhea, nausea, vomiting or abdominal pain. In some rare cases, salmonella can enter the bloodstream and cause more severe health issues. MU students have avoided the disease so far, University Hospital spokesman Jeff Hoelscher said.
“We’ve not seen any patients presented with the strain of salmonella that is consistent with this egg recall,” Hoelscher said.