Egg graders from the U.S. Department of Agriculture were regularly on site at two Iowa farms linked to the national salmonella outbreak but failed to enforce rules against the presence of disease-spreading rodents and other vermin, USA Today reports.
USDA employees inspected the size and quality of eggs at Wright County Egg and Hillandale Farms at least 40 hours a week.
Two former Wright County Egg employees claim they told the egg graders about problems including leaking manure and dead chickens, but nothing was done, The Associated Press reports.
Earlier this week, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration released a report detailing filthy conditions in the farms’ egg-laying barns, including rodents, wild birds, flies, maggots, and seeping manure, all of which can spread salmonella.
Now, food safety groups are questioning whether the USDA egg graders should have reported the conditions later detailed by the FDA, possibly preventing the outbreak of about 1,500 reported cases of salmonella.
“In light of what FDA saw, why didn’t these guys see the same thing in terms of raising red flags?” asked Tony Corbo of Food & Water Watch, a food safety group.
Buildings and “outside premises” must be free of vermin, under USDA regulations. But Dean Kastner, an assistant USDA branch chief in the poultry grading program, told USA Today that egg graders only look for vermin inside the specific buildings in which they work.
USDA spokesman Caleb Weaver said the egg graders do not have the authority to inspect the barns. He also said the agency is still determining whether the graders addressed rodent issues in their reports.
