Egg Producer at Heart of Recall Had Long Violation Record

Egg farmers want consumers to know they’re working closely with the authorities to make sure their product is safe. And with 23 states now affected by recalls and fear of eggs changing some eating habits, they should.

The producers took out a full page advertisement in USA Today Wednesday morning to point out that despite huge-seeming numbers like 500 million eggs recalled, the recalls still account for less than 1 percent of the nation’s egg production. And, of course, not all states have been affected.

And the recall certainly doesn’t affect nearly all the egg farmers in the nation. Many of the problems have been traced to one family-owned business in Iowa, and it’s a business with a long history of environmental and workplace issues.

NPR reports that DeCoster Operations, the family-owned company that produced many of the eggs that have been recalled for fear of salmonella contamination, has paid millions of dollars over the years for workplace, immigration, and environmental issues.

Philip Brasher of the Des Moines Register told NPR that the company originated in Maine, but became notorious in Iowa in the 1990s when it established large industrial hog and chicken farms there and ran afoul of environmental regulators because of its waste.

Later, the company faced workplace discrimination charges that were settled. Immigrant women working for DeCoster were allegedly sexually harassed, and there were even allegations of rape. The company has also paid fines for knowingly hiring illegal aliens.

This year, the company faced cruelty-to-animal charges.

“It had to do with abusing the hens in the operation up there, and they paid a fine to settle it. It's a pretty unusual case. I’m not aware of any other egg operation, certainly in Iowa, that's been brought up on animal-cruelty charges before,” Brasher told NPR.