“The Iowa egg producer that federal officials say is at the center of a
salmonella outbreak and recalls of more than a half-billion eggs has
repeatedly paid fines and settled complaints over health and safety
violations and allegations ranging from maintaining a ‘sexually hostile’
work environment to abusing the hens that lay the eggs.
“In the past 20 years, according to the public record, the DeCoster
family operation, one of the 10 largest egg producers in the country,
has withstood a string of reprimands, penalties and complaints about its
performance in several states …
“DeCoster owns Wright County Egg in Iowa … A federal investigation into 26
outbreaks of salmonella enteritidis, the second-leading cause of
food-borne illness, found that 15 of the outbreaks pointed to Wright
County Egg.”
— August 22 Washington Post