Conditions at the two salmonella egg farms in Iowa are so bad that you’d think they were Tylenol factories, according to recent FDA inspections. Wait, I mean the first and only inspections.

From the Washington Post:

[Inspectors] found dead maggots and live flies that crunched under foot at Wright County Egg, where the FDA also documented a hen house bulging from manure … [they] made numerous observations about holes in buildings or gaps in structures, which can allow rodents, pigeons and other animals to enter hen houses. On several occasions, investigators saw live rodents running through hen houses at both farms.”

The FDA had in fact never inspected either farm before, although the agency says it plans to inspect 600 egg facilities (responsible for about 80% of the nation’s egg supply) over the next 15 months.

The Des Moines Register spoke with a poultry housing specialist from Iowa State University who said the FDA inspection reports were surprising:

Hongwei Xin, a specialist in poultry housing at Iowa State University, said he’s visited 50 to 70 egg farms in Iowa, including ones operated by major producers Sparboe Farms and Rose Acre Farms, and has never seen the combination of conditions described in the FDA reports. He also has never observed mice or wild birds in henhouses.

“This is not very typical at all,” he said.

“Inspectors find unsanitary conditions at egg farms” [Washington Post]
“FDA details numerous violations at egg farms” [Des Moines Register]

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