DeLauro Calls on USDA and HHS to Resume Iowa Egg Inspections, Protect Americans from Salmonella

WASHINGTON, DC (April 11, 2016) — Congresswoman Rosa DeLauro (CT-03) today wrote to the U.S. Departments of Agriculture and Health and Human Services to ask why the State of Iowa and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration have not resumed egg inspections following last year's avian influenza outbreak. A recent report by the Des Moines Register found that nearly 700 egg facilities have not been inspected since 2015, leaving American consumers at risk of contracting Salmonella.

"While I understand the temporary concern that the avian influenza outbreak could spread if there were not proper biosecurity protocols in place, I find it deeply alarming that food safety inspections in the largest egg producing state in the country are not being carried out by federal and state officials now that production has resumed," DeLauro wrote. "Conversely, all state and federal inspections in other large egg producing states that were temporarily suspended have since resumed. It begs the question: Why the disparate application of policy?"

"What makes the current suspension of egg inspections in Iowa so troubling is the fact that, just prior to the suspension in 2015, egg inspectors identified some of the same food safety violations on the same farms that contributed to the 2010 outbreak," continued DeLauro. "Self-policing just does not work. We need to have inspections to ensure that food safety regulations are being followed by industry."

DeLauro has long fought for tighter food safety regulations to protect the American consumer. Most recently, she called on the USDA to label antibiotic-resistant Salmonella as an adulterant to facilitate mandatory recalls. She has also called on Congress to pass the Safe Food Act to establish a single food safety agency and to fully fund the Food Safety Modernization Act, the first update to food safety oversight in more than seventy years.

The full letter is available here.

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