The New York Times
Times Topics
Updated: Sept. 23, 2010
Austin J. DeCoster is the founder of an egg empire that has been linked over three decades to multiple deadly outbreaks of salmonella poisoning in many states.
One of his companies, Wright County Egg of Iowa, was at the center of the largest egg recall in history in August 2010. Health officials traced salmonella bacteria that sickened more than 1,500 people to Wright County and another large egg producer, Hillandale Farms. The two companies recalled more than 500 million eggs.
A subsequent inspection by the Food and Drug Administration found that their barns were infested with flies, maggots and rodents, and had overflowing manure pits. Records unearthed by Congressional investigators showed that tests of Wright County Egg barns had shown the presence of toxic salmonella bacteria for years prior to the outbreak.
The salmonella outbreak began in May, when several states began seeing an increase in the number of cases of a common type of bacterial illness known as Salmonella Enteritidis, said Dr. Christopher R. Braden, acting director of food-borne diseases at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta. The numbers continued to grow, and in June and July, a database used to track disease nationwide found that the number of cases had risen from a historical average of about 50 a week to about 200.
Public health officials in California, Minnesota and Colorado determined that many of the people who had gotten sick had eaten food containing eggs. Further investigation traced many tainted eggs to Wright County Egg.
Inspection reports released by the F.D.A. in late August pointed to a feed mill operated by Wright County Egg as a potential source of the contamination. Officials said tests found salmonella in bone meal, a feed ingredient, and in feed given to young birds, which were raised to become laying hens.
Farms tied to Mr. DeCoster were a primary source of Salmonella enteritidis in the United States in the 1980s, when some of the first major outbreaks of human illness from the bacteria in eggs occurred, according to health officials and public records. At one point, New York and Maryland regulators believed DeCoster eggs were such a threat that they banned sales of the eggs in their states.
By the end of that decade, regulators in New York had forced Mr. DeCoster to allow salmonella testing of his farms and, along with other states, pushed the egg industry in the eastern United States to improve safety, which led to a drop in illness.
But the efforts were patchwork. For example, Iowa, where Mr. DeCoster has five farms tied to the current outbreak, required no testing.
And the federal government, at times under pressure from Congress and the industry to limit regulation, spent two decades debating national egg safety standards. New rules finally went into effect in July — too late to prevent the current round of illness.
On Sept. 22, 2010, Mr. DeCoster apologized for the outbreak before the House Energy and Commerce subcommittee and acknowledged that his family operation had become “big quite awhile before we stopped acting like we were small.”
“We were horrified to learn that our eggs may have made people sick,” Mr. DeCoster, who is known as Jack, said in a shaky voice. “We apologize to everyone who may have been sickened by eating our eggs.”
Despite the conditions found in the barns of Wright County Egg, Peter DeCoster, Austin DeCoster’s son and the chief operating officer, told the panel that the most likely source of the contamination was a separate company that supplied ingredients for chicken feed, a contention disputed by federal food officials. He said that some of the filthy conditions documented by the F.D.A. were standard practice in the industry.
Representative Bruce Braley, a Democrat of Iowa, asked Austin DeCoster, “How is it possible that after all this time we have another DeCoster egg facility involved in a half-billion egg recall?”
Mr. DeCoster responded, “The question is complicated, sir.”
Salmonella Outbreak
Wright County Egg of Iowa
Facts:
August 2010 – The largest egg recall in history was traced to salmonella bacteria in eggs to producers Wright County Egg of Iowa and Hillandale Farms. Shipping of eggs ceased in August 2010. More than 1500 people were sickened and 500 million eggs were recalled. (1) No deaths were reported.
Cause:
The F.D.A. found the barns at Wright County Egg infested with flies, maggots and rodents as well as overflowing manure pits. Congressional investigators produced records that disclosed the barns tested positive for toxic salmonella for years prior to the outbreak.
The F.D.A. released reports showing that salmonella was found in bone meal, a feed ingredient given to young birds, which were raised to become laying hens. (1)
Current Status:
The FDA granted Wright County Egg permission to resume shipments of eggs. Decision based on corrective measures taken by Wright County Egg and subsequent testing of their facilities proved negative for salmonella. (2) There will be on-going testing of the facilities for salmonella.
Austin “Jack” DeCoster, owner of Wright County Egg, testified before a congressional panel Sept. 22, 2010 and said he was sorry for causing the largest outbreak of salmonella in history. (3) Rep. Henry Waxman of California called DeCoster a habitual violator of safety standards citing a 30 year history of producing eggs with salmonella.
The FDA, which is responsible for the safety of eggs, is conducting a criminal investigation into DeCoster’s Wright County Egg and Bethel’s Hillandale Farms, but no charges have been filed.
Past Safety Violations:
> 1980, the DeCoster operation was charged with employing five 11-year-olds and a 9-year-old by the Labor department.
> 1988, 100,000 chickens burned to death in a fire and were left to decompose.
> 1987- 500 elderly and chronically ill patients became sick and 9 patients died from a salmonella outbreak at Bird S. Coler Hospital in New York City. Eggs came from farm in Maryland owned by the DeCoster family. (4) Two more outbreaks in that following year from DeCoster eggs prompted Maryland to ban the sale of DeCoster eggs. DeCoster egg farms then agreed to rigorous testing of its farms in Maine and Maryland.
> 1991, tests revealed more eggs from farms in Maryland were contaminated.
> 1992 – DeCoster violated the quarantine on eggs sold in Maryland, and was given a suspended sentence and a token fine by a state judge.
> 1992, DeCoster was charged by the state with indenturing migrant workers and denying them contact with teachers, social workers, doctors, lawyers and labor organizers.
> 1993 – DeCoster sold his egg farms in Maryland and focused on Iowa where there was no requirement for salmonella monitory.
In 1996, federal investigators found DeCoster workers living in rat and cockroach infested housing and OSHA found their drinking water contaminated with feces. (5)
Note: See article for New Rule by FDA re: salmonella monitoring. (6)
References – Salmonella Outbreak
Wright County Egg of Iowa
(1) “Times Topics” The New York Times, September 23, 2010
(2) “Update on Wright County Egg: Egg Shipments Resume Following OK From FDA”, Brown Chiari Food Poisoning Law Firm, January 3, 2011
(3 “Egg Farmer ‘sorry’ for salmonella illnesses”, The Washington Post, Lyndsey Layton, September 23, 2010
(4) “An Iowa Egg Farmer and a History of Salmonella”, The New York Times, William Neuman, September 21, 2010
(5) “Long arm of law catches up with DeCoster”, Albuquerque Express, Martha Rosenberg, July 24 2010
(6) “Egg-cellent New Rule by FDA Seeks To Reduce Salmonella”, Product Liability Monitor, July 12, 2010
