10.01.2013

Two large egg producers have received warning letters from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), which said that some of their facilities are violating shell egg safety rules aimed at preventing salmonella contamination. The producers are Midwest Poultry Services of Mentone (1), Ind., and SKS Enterprises (2) Inc., in Lodi, California. The main violations at Midwest Poultry were that the firm failed to implement portions of its Salmonella Enteritidis prevention plan, to use appropriate rodent control in four layer houses, and to maintain documentation for complying with refrigeration requirements. For the SKS Enterprises farms, the violations varied by facility and included, for example, deviations from Salmonella Enteritidis testing protocols and failure to prevent wild birds from entering the poultry houses. The FDA directed both companies to reply to the letters, detailing steps they have taken to correct the violations. The shell egg rules, which took several years to develop, went into effect for the biggest producers in July 2010.

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(1) Midwest Poultry Services, L.P. engages in poultry farming (more than two million hens). The company produces and supplies eggs to local supermarkets. Midwest Poultry Services, L.P. was founded in 1875 and is based in Mentone, Indiana.

(2) SKS Enterprises, Inc in Manteca, CA is a private company categorized under Chicken Eggs