We have previously commented on Supply Chain Matters about the very large recall of eggs in the U.S. that occurred in August. On August 13, Wright County Farms of Galt, Iowa, an entity associated with DeCoster Farms, voluntarily recalled over 228 million “shell eggs” because of the potential for Salmonella Enteritidis contamination. These eggs were distributed to food wholesalers, distribution centers, supermarkets and foodservice companies across eight U.S. states.  The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the U.S. Department of Agriculture(USDA)  have since conducted separate investigation to determine the source of the contamination and a strong suspicion points to the feed provided to the various hens, although no definitive conclusions have been released to date.

The latest twists to this ongoing incident came transpired this week in various print and televised media as Austin “Jack” DeCoster and his son Peter DeCoster were scheduled to testify before a U.S. Congressional subcommittee meeting.  This Congressional body asked both men to come prepared to explain what steps have been taken to address the contamination that occurred at their two farms in Iowa.

In a classic move, both men indicate that they believe an ingredient sold to them by an outside supplier was possibly to blame for the contamination outbreak.  That’s right, if there is a problem, it surely has to be the supplier who is suspect. Yet, various reports from governmental inspectors seem to indicate that feed shipped to these farms was subsequently contaminated by being either co-located or coming in contact with unsanitary conditions on the chicken farms themselves.  Government inspectors described conditions at the Wright County henhouses as including mice, maggots and piles of manure as high as eight feet.

Doesn’t that make you feel wholesome and good!

According to news reports, a U.S. House subcommittee also found that Wright County Egg had received hundreds of positive salmonella readings in the last two years, which should have also raised red flags.

But there is something even more profound to this ongoing story.  Jack DeCoster stated in his testimony to the following: “We were horrified to learn that our eggs may have made people sick and we apologize to every one who may have been sickened by eating our eggs.  I pray several times each day for all of them and for their improved health.”

Here is this blog’s response to Mr. DeCoster- too little and too late, my friend.  The damage and the effects have already been done.  What are you personally going to do about it, and what steps are your various farms going to take to assure consumers that these incidents will not continue?

If there is any learning that can be gained for all of these types of incidents is that the time for sincere apologies is when the problem is initially discovered, and not weeks later, when all the lawyers and public relations teams have been called-in to ascertain the damage recovery plan.  In this new era of social-media and instant news, the negative impressions and reactions have already been made, and the virtual world has already weighed-in on their opinions of Wright County Farms and parent DeCoster Farms.  The most scathing indictment within the blogosphere came from Robert Reich, Professor of Public Policy at the University of California at Berkeley, who penned his Corporate Rotten Eggs commentary which described his previous dealings with the DeCoster conglomerate while serving as U.S. Secretary of Labor under the Clinton Administration. The impressions are made and consumers want to know, what are you going to do about it?

Jack DeCoster indicates that his companies grew too fast, still acting like a small farms.  Yet others describe the DeCoster operation as ‘big agribusiness”, and as Professor Reich noted, the current national salmonella outbreak is just the latest in a long series of DeCoster corporate crimes. “He’s fostered a culture that disregards any law standing in the way of profits. Along the way, DeCoster has abused the environment, animals, his employees, and his customers.”, noted Reich.

In the end, which statements will consumers really believe?  Perhaps we should ask all those who were actually sickened by salmonella, or who had to work on these suspect farms.

Consumers expect that products are safe, meet superior quality standards, and are produced in an environmentally and worker safe manner.  Consumers should not expect to settle for apologies and a wish for a speedy recovery, but some real action by DeCoster to insure clean farms and a safe egg supply.

Bob Ferrari

August 2010 is quickly turning out to be quite a month for consumer safety concerns regarding the overall safety and quality of U.S. food-related supply chains. Governmental agencies are under the gun to step-up inspection and enforcement and are seeking more jurisdictional power as a litany of urgent alerts permeates news and social media sites.

A lot of attention and commentary have been directed at the massive recall of eggs that was announced on August 13, and now that incident involves over 380 million recalled eggs.  The U.S. FDA reports an ongoing four-fold increase in the occurrence of Salmonella Entertidus that led-up to this recall incident. In our commentary on Supply Chain Matters we questioned why an egg enterprise or agri-business with such a wide distribution of product and private brand volume could experience this type of occurrence without a rigorous quality and inspection program. Former U.S. secretary of labor and University of California Professor Robert Reich penned a scathing litany featured on both The Huffington Post and his own web site, concerning the history of violations involving Jack DeCoster, owner of various nationwide egg farms including the involved Iowa farms.

Adding more to consumer concerns, this week, consumers were alerted to an FDA Class 1 recall involving 380,000 pounds of deli meat products that may be contaminated with Listeria monocytogenes.  Zemco Industries of Buffalo New York is voluntarily recalling product which was distributed to nationwide Wal-Mart stores, as well as delicatessens, where they were processed into sandwiches. The products in question were produced on various dates from June 18 to July 2, 2010.  The problem was discovered in a retail sample collected by the State of Georgia that tested positive for a strain of listeria. To date, the USDA has received no reports of human illnesses.  According to a Wal-Mart press release, upon learning of the recall by Zemco, all Wal-Mart stores were instructed to remove select Marketside Grab and Go deli sandwiches from store shelves.

The FDA also issued an urgent nationwide recall of frozen mamey fruit pulp sold under the La Nuestra and Goya Foods brands because of an epidemiologic link between an ongoing outbreak of Salmonella Typhi infections and these products. The U.S. CDC reports that at least 9 people in California and Nevada are ill with typhoid fever caused by Salmonella Typhi.  Consumers who have these products in their homes are being urged to discard them immediately and further inquire as to what brand of mamey products are being used in drinks processed at juice stands and retail stores.

A select batch of pistachios and pistachio kernel products that were distributed by California Delights Inc. have been voluntarily recalled due to fears of salmonella contamination.  The products were shipped to two other distributors, Austinuts Wholesale Inc. and Glory Bee Foods, Inc. , and were re-packaged and sold to stores and bakeries within the states of Oregon, Texas and Washington.  Austinuts received two shipments of suspected product that were re-packaged as pistachio kernals, deluxe nut mix, and gourmet nut mix.  GloryBee Foods recalled its Patty brand 5 pound bags of whole raw pistachios, and 25 pound boxes of Special Commodities brand whole raw pistachio kernals.  Keep in mind that a previous nationwide recall of pistachios over a year ago impacted over 80 products and multiple brand names.

August may well turn out to be a watershed month in triggering concerns about the breakdown in quality processes involving global based food supply.  Many have noted and recognized, including the current head of the FDA, that the U.S. government has limited resources to monitor and inspect global-related flows of food products.  My belief is that the overall zeal of supply chain cost reduction efforts across many industries, including those dealing with most sensitive of products, is taking a visible toll in the breakdown of quality and conformance. I’ll be commenting more on this trend in upcoming writings.

In the meantime, the consumer goods and food industry has to self-police itself or risk more daunting regulation and control, as consumers reel from a litany of disturbing events.

Bob Ferrari

There have been growing concerns about the eroding safety of our food supplies and Supply Chain Matters has had far too many postings noting incidents of contamination affecting the safety of food-related supply chains.  I suppose that the latest incident involving the recall of hundreds of millions of eggs in the U.S. should not be a surprise, but the scope and circumstances are again rather troubling.  In this new era of social media explosion, these types of incidents can bring tremendous amounts of negative perception and damage to brands. They also cause too many disruptions for supply professionals.

On August 13, Wright County Farms of Galt, Iowa, an entity associated with DeCoster Farms, voluntarily recalled 228 million “shell eggs” because of the potential for Salmonella Enteritidis contamination. These eggs were distributed to food wholesalers, distribution centers, supermarkets and foodservice companies across eight U.S. states, involving eggs shipped from May 16, 2010.  Thirteen different brand names were involved in this recall, and because whole eggs are the basis for an ingredient in other food products, there are probably unspecified aspects as to the total scope of this recall, and the potential for human illness.  The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) issued a recent news release outlining the details of this recall.

As I pen this commentary, the recall has now expanded to 380 million eggs involving seventeen U.S. states. All five farms owned by Wright County Farms are under suspicion as sources.  An article on Reuters notes that the amount of eggs recalled are equivalent to nearly all the eggs consumed by all Americans in two days, which is rather a significant exposure. Nearly 2000 cases of salmonella were officially reported to U.S. government agencies from May thru July, a period where 700 cases would have been considered the norm. The U.S. FDA has fifteen investigators currently working on tracking the sources or potential causes of the infection. This recall has significant supply chain implications because uncooked eggs can end up salad dressing, meringue pie or other food or restaurant items.

As was noted in recent recalls such as pistachios, potentially contaminated product has been in the supply chain, undetected until now, for at least three months.  One also has to wonder why an egg enterprise with such a wide distribution of product and private brand volume had this type of occurrence.  The FDA notes that new egg safety standards took effect on July 9 which requires producers to safeguard feed and water supplies and test poultry houses for salmonella, In the case of Wright Farms, one has to speculate if these regulations came too late.

Bob Ferrari