Last week the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) instructed Lacey, Wash.-based egg processor Nutriom LLC to expand the recall of products initiated in February. Following the company's refusal to do so, the FSIS has issued a public health alert regarding products manufactured by Nutriom.
Officials at the service recommended that the recall be expanded to a further 118,541 pounds of processed egg products as a result of an ongoing investigation at the facility. They have gathered evidence that more products could pose a health risk to the public and were unfit for human consumption, the FSIS said in a statement. Following Nutriom's refusal to comply with instructions from the regulator, the FSIS will take enforcement actions to remove the company's products from the U.S. food supply system.
The initial recall order was issued because the FSIS alleged that the company had manipulated lab test results to conceal the presence of Salmonella. Nutriom then recalled 226,710 pounds of processed egg products.
In response to the latest public health alert the company issued a statement claiming that it had conducted a partial recall expansion, including six production lots. This move was taken despite the fact that those lots had been tested and were found to be safe, but Nutriom assumed that a technical error may have occurred. The company determined that there was no scientific evidence to further expand the recall and has submitted supporting data to the FSIS.
