Firm in egg recall supplies the other; FDA says rules killed in Bush era would have prevented it

The second company to recall millions of eggs gets hens and feed from the first company, which has been fined millions of dollars for health violations and is owned by a man who has been "involved in legal cases that have forced him to settle with the federal government for hiring illegal immigrants, for tolerating sexual harassment at his company, and has faced a litany of animal cruelty charges," Emily Friedman of ABC News reports.

Jack DeCoster's Wright County Egg Farms in Galt, Iowa, supplied Hillandale Farms in West Union and Alden, though Hillanale did not say that in its press release announcing the recall, The Des Moines Register reports. "DeCoster owns a hatchery in Minnesota and leases the Alden site to Hillandale, Philip Brasher writes. "Minnesota health officials said today that they have linked seven salmonella illnesses to Hillandale eggs and seven to eggs sold by Wright County Egg." (Read more)

Brasher reports today that Food and Drug Administration "officials said this week that the salmonella outbreak could have been averted had the agency imposed new safety rules before last month. The rules include biosafety measures, refrigeration standards and testing requirements for young hens as well as older birds. The rules were first proposed by the Clinton administration and then revived by the FDA last year, but the industry was given until July 9 to get into compliance. The DeCoster operation was previously following less-stringent industry guidelines, a spokeswoman said." (Read more)