FDA Egg Farm Inspection Reports Include Rodents, Flies, 8-Foot-High Manure Pile

[mike r]

Source: Wall Street Journal

The FDA inspectors who visited Wright County Egg, one of the producers at the heart of the salmonella-related egg recall, reported finding wild birds, rodents, dead and live flies, maggots and chicken manure piled up to eight feet high in or near the producer’s facilities.

The FDA’s so-called Form 483 reports for Wright County Egg and the other farm suspected as a source of the tainted eggs, Hillandale Farms of Iowa, indicate inspectors’ observations only and don’t constitute a final ruling on any violations of FDA regulations. But they make for pretty stomach-turning reading. Among the findings of the report on Wright County Egg, also known as Quality Egg:

* Non-chicken feathers, live wild birds and pigeons in or near some of the laying houses.
* Chicken manure piled between 4 feet and 8 feet high in a pit below some of the laying houses. “The outdoor access doors to the manure pits at these locations had been pushed out by the weight of the manure, leaving open access to wildlife or domesticated animals,” the report says.
* In some laying houses, “dark liquid which appeared to be manure was observed seeping through the concrete foundation to the outside.”
* Live mice observed inside laying houses.
* Live and dead flies “too numerous to count” inside laying houses. On a conference call with reporters, an FDA official reported that inspectors crushed live flies under their feet. There were also live and dead maggots “too numerous to count” on the manure pit floor of one of the houses.
* At a feed mill, bird were observed roosting and flying in the storage and milling facility, and nesting material was found in areas including ingredient storage.

As the FDA said last week, salmonella contamination was found in several places in the Wright Egg and Quality Egg facilities, including a sample of meat and bone meal used in feed. But the FDA has not yet indicated the exact source of the troublesome contamination. At Hillandale Farms, FDA inspectors observed unsealed rodent holes and live rodents entering facilities, as well as standing water and liquid manure leaking into a section of the floor. Salmonella was found in water from an egg-washing station...

Read more: http://blogs.wsj.com/health/2010/08/30/fda-egg-farm-inspection-reports-include-rodents-flies-8-foot-high-manure-pile/

[wordpix]

1. disgusting and cruelty to animals, not to mention pollution via uncontrolled manure

I guessed it before I read it about the manure problem :puke:

[d_r]

2. they are going to have worse than salmonella like that

[Grinchie]

3. The Reason we saw no footage of Chicken Barns in Food Inc. -- Ya think?

When mankind sells his soul for the almighty dollar, and disregards the lives of other creatures he shares the earth with, then this is the kind of Hell on Earth we can expect to live in.

Just because it is hidden out of sight, and out of mind to City Dwellers that consume billions upon billions of chickens every year without a single thought on how they are raised and mistreated, doesn't mean that Karma will not affect them in some way, and in this case, that afgfect is disease.

The exploitation of these animals by transforming them into widgets in an egg factory, to be used until they can produce no more, fed GMO feed until they succumb to the inevitable build up of BT toxin, or just plain die due to filthy, inconceivable living conditions is the most hellish creation mankind has created on Earth.

All for the almighty dollar.. Get Pedro the immigrant to dry heave while cleaning out the mountains of shit. Get Pedro to pick up the hundreds of dead chickens and throw them in a pile every day...

Yep, Pedro will do it, because he's and Illegal, and just wants to make ends meet. It's the American Way!

I'd like to chain up Mike Taylor in one of those Chicken Barns for a week. I'm sure he will say that they are substantially equivalent to free range chickens.

[givemebackmycountry]

4. We need more DE-REG-U-LATION! GLEN BECK SAYS SO!

The FREE market will correct situations like this, and I AM SURE that these reports are FABRICATIONS OF THE LIBERAL MEDIA because the owner of this farm is a conservative, and WE ALL KNOW that the LIBERAL MEDIA and GEORGE SOROS hates CONSERVATIVES and, and, and,

:sarcasm:

That article was absolutely disgusting.
It's only a matter of time before one of these "mega-farms" kill us all.

[EmilyKent]

5. Not the first time.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wright_County_Egg

[catgirl]

6. Don't buy mass produced eggs!

These factory farms should be closed down.

[Dappleganger]

9. +10000

Hopefully this will help small farms gain in popularity.

[aquart]

7. That manure pile seems high to me. Does it seem high to you?

[skoalyman]

8. if there business mirror sanitary habits at home

they're used to having a toilet with 8 ft shit in it lol

[wordpix]

23. new reality show idea, "Messiest Business in the Nation"

[oldhippydude]

10. not really

the pits i have seen are designed to be cleaned by a bob cat front end loader.. the one commercial egg farm i had knowledge of in 1970's used the manure to fertilize an apple orchard.. each house was cleaned twice yearly

[bergie321]

11. You call that a manure pile?

THIS is a manure pile:

[oldhippydude]

12. right on

fermenting at that!!

[wordpix]

24. accckkk! The BLECH!!!

[Mopar151]

13. Jack DeCoster is a mass murderer

Worse than Manson....... His operations in Maine were more disgusting, if anything - worker housing as nasty as the chicken barns.

Another shining example - If you wear a suit when you murder, mistereat and rob people, you'll never do a day in jail.

[Endangered Specie]

14. Aw man where is Jeff Goldblum when you need him...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-JFfN5pKzFU

[defendandprotect]

15. Is this also the source of bed bugs . . . ???

[depakid]

16. Maggots, manure link to US salmonella outbreak

Source: Sydney Morning Herald

Two Iowa farms that produced more than half a billion eggs linked to a salmonella outbreak failed to "fully implement" plans to prevent contamination, US regulators say. Wright County Egg and Hillandale Farms of Iowa failed to adequately prevent sanitation problems associated with rodents, maggots and manure, the Food and Drug Administration said today in reports on its website.

This month's recall, which has sickened as many as 1470 people in the US, may be the biggest withdrawal of salmonella-tainted eggs from the market in at least eight to 10 years, Jeffrey Farrar, the Food and Drug Administration's associate commissioner for food protection, said recently.

Wright, based in Galt, Iowa, has recalled 380 million eggs since August 13. Another 170 million eggs were pulled from the market August 19 by Hillandale Farms, based in New Hampton, Iowa, bringing the total to 550 million.

Some poultry-house doors at the Wright farm were "pushed out by the weight of manure, which was piled in some cases four to eight feet high," David Elder, director of FDA's Office of Regional Operations, said today. "Live and dead maggots too numerous to count" and "excessive amounts of manure" were among the problems FDA inspectors found at the Wright farm, according to one of the reports. "Unsealed rodent holes" and "uncaged hens tracking manure" were found at Hillandale Farms, according to the other report.

Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/business/world-business/maggots-manure-link-to-us-salmonella-outbreak-20100831-147nl.html

[C_U_L8R]

17. Glen Beck's been tampering with our eggs ???

[Arctic Dave]

18. Galt? The joke almost writes itself.

Libertarians take notice.

[Yeahyeah]

19. Mmm-mmmm!

[Rozlee]

20. This reminds me of the way they used to control mice in grain back a few decades ago

They couldn't use poison in the grain and they couldn't allow mice droppings to get in it. Most of it was commercial feed grain, but portions often were used as "fillers" in regular cereal for human consumption. But, mice kept getting in the bins and they worried about the mice droppings. So, they'd release corn snakes in it. I guess snakes didn't poop.

[unkachuck]

21. yum, yum, yum....

"...failed to adequately prevent sanitation problems associated with rodents, maggots and manure,..."

....how do you like your eggs?....I want mine with,

...."Live and dead maggots too numerous to count" and "excessive amounts of manure"....

[Kablooie]

22. And so now the companies get a small fine, make cosmetic changes and continue as always.

[AngryAmish]

25. You can have my 8 foot-high manure pile when you take it from my cold, dead hands

More government run amok.