More than a month after the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) initially issued a recall of eggs after people in nine states fell ill with salmonella, the government agency has now upgraded its warnings, saying that the eggs in question could cause serious adverse health consequences or even death if ingested.
The initial egg recall came in early September for all types of chicken eggs supplied by Milo’s Poultry Farms LLC in Bonduel, Wisconsin. The FDA took that action after environmental samples of the eggs tested positive for salmonella bacteria, and dozens of people across nine states became infected with the outbreak strain, the agency said.
The FDA said that the eggs had been distributed to food service locations and retailers in Wisconsin, Illinois and Michigan, and illnesses occurred between 23 May 2024 and 10 August 2024. Of the 63 people who became sick, at least 24 were hospitalized, they added. No deaths had been reported as of Tuesday.
On 30 September, the FDA upgraded the recall alert to its most urgent Class I. The FDA says it does that when confronted with a situation in which there is a reasonable probability that the use of or exposure to a recalled product will cause serious adverse health consequences or death.
The FDA said it conducted onsite inspections and collected samples at Milo’s Poultry Farms LLC. Salmonella enteritidis had been detected in samples collected from the farm’s packing facility and poultry house.
The recall covers all eggs supplied by Milo’s Poultry Farms. It covers all expiration dates for eggs of all carton sizes and all egg types labeled with Milo’s Poultry Farms, all carton sizes of Tony’s Fresh Market branded eggs, and all cases of eggs for retail food service distribution, on all expiration dates.
The FDA has warned that if infected with salmonella, the illness usually occurs within 12 to 72 hours after eating the contaminated food.
Government health officials say that the symptoms usually last four to seven days and can include fever, nausea, vomiting and abdominal cramps. The FDA added that children younger than five, the elderly and people with weakened immune systems were more likely to have severe infections.
Milo’s Poultry Farms LLC for now has ceased production as well as distribution and will undergo appropriate testing and sanitization of farms and processing equipment.
