Egg facilities get warning letters from the FDA

FDA issued warning letters to two egg facilities due to inadequate control of Salmonella enteriditis. The egg facilities are Walnut Ridge Farm of Ovid NY, and Gravel Ridge farms of Cullman, AL. The Gravel Ridge Farms inspection was initiated as part of a Salmonella Enteritidis (SE) multi-state outbreak investigation by FDA’s. 45 people in 12 states were infected with the outbreak strain of SE, which is the same strain found in two environmental swabs from two egg-laying houses in the Gravel Ridge facility. The FDA’s Whole Genome Sequence (WGS) analysis of these isolates of SE revealed they are genetically identical to 45 clinical isolates from ill patients sequenced to date. CDC and FDA have determined, based on the epidemiological, traceback, and laboratory evidence, that shell eggs produced at your Cullman, Alabama location are the likely source of this multi-state SE outbreak. In Walnut Ridge Farm the FDA wrote: “During the inspection, the investigators observed that you have serious violations of the Prevention of Salmonella Enteritidis (SE) in shell eggs during production, storage, and transportation regulation (the shell egg regulation)”. FDA claims that the eggs have been prepared, packed, or held under unsanitary conditions. @ https://www.fda.gov/ICECI/EnforcementActions/WarningLetters/2019/default.htm