Egg Recall As Salmonella Outbreak Leaves 79 Sick, 21 Hospitalized

A salmonella outbreak has left 79 people sick and 21 hospitalized across seven states, according to a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention report. As a result, the August Egg Company of Hilmar, California, initiated a voluntary recall of around 1.7 million of its eggs on Friday, according to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.

Egg Recall Includes Multiple Brown Organic And Brown Cage-Free Brands

The recall encompasses the following brands of brown organic or brown cage-free eggs from the August Egg Company:

• Clover Organic Large Brown 12 eggs with a Universal Product Code of 070852010427
• First Street Cage Free Large Brown Loose 1 case=150 eggs with a UPC of 041512039638
• Nulaid Medium Brown Cage Free 12 eggs with a UPC of 071230021042
• Nulaid Jumbo Brown Cage Free 12 eggs with a UPC of 071230021011
• O Organics Cage Free Large Brown 6 eggs with a UPC of 079893401522
• O Organics Large Brown 12 eggs with a UPC of 079893401508
• O Organics Large Brown 18 eggs with a UPC of 079893401546
• Marketside Organic Large Cage Free Brown 12 eggs with a UPC of 681131122771
• Marketside Organic Large Cage Free Brown 18 eggs with a UPC of 681131122801
• Marketside Large Cage Free Brown 12 eggs with a UPC of 681131122764
• Marketside Large Cage Free Brown 18 eggs with a UPC of 681131122795
• Raley’s Large Cage Free Brown 12 eggs with a UPC of 046567033310
• Raley’s Large Cage Free Brown 18 eggs with a UPC of 046567040325
• Raley’s Organic Large Cage Free Brown 12 eggs with a UPC of 046567028798
• Raley’s Organic Large Cage Free Brown 18 eggs with a UPC of 046567040295
• Simple Truth Medium Brown Cage Free 18 eggs with a UPC of 011110099327
• Simple Truth Large Brown Cage Free 18 eggs with a UPC of 011110873743
• Sun Harvest Organic Cage Free Large Brown 12 eggs with a UPC of 041512131950
• Sun Harvest Organic Cage Free Large Brown 18 eggs with a UPC of 041512145162
• Sunnyside Large Brown Cage Free 12 eggs with a UPC of 717544211747
• Sunnyside Large Brown Cage Free 18 eggs with a UPC of 717544211754
• Sunnyside Organic Cage Free Large Brown 12 eggs with a UPC of 717544201441
• Sunnyside Organic Cage Free Large Brown 18 eggs with a UPC of 717544211761
• Loose Small Brown Cage Free-1 box= 6 flats (1 flat= 30 eggs) with no particular UPC
• Loose Medium Brown Cage Free -1 box= 6 flats (1 flat= 30 eggs) with no particular UPC
• Loose Medium Brown Organic -1 box= 6 flats (1 flat= 30 eggs) with no particular UPC
• Loose Large Brown Organic-1 box= 6 flats (1 flat= 30 eggs) with no particular UPC
• Loose Jumbo Brown Cage Free -1 box=5 flats (1 flat=20 eggs) with no particular UPC
• Loose Jumbo Brown Organic -1 box=5 flats(1 flat=20 eggs) with no particular UPC

As you can see the loose eggs don’t have associated UPCs.

To determine whether your eggs are affected by the recall, check your package, meaning the fiber or plastic cartons in which the eggs were packaged. Be on the lookout for a plant code number of either P-6562 or CA5330 along with Julian Dates between 32 to 126. Such eggs went on to be sold at retail locations like Save Mart, FoodMaxx, Lucky, Smart & Final, Safeway, Raleys, Food 4 Less and Ralphs from Feb. 3, 2025, through May 15, 2025. The also went to Walmart locations in California, Washington, Nevada, Arizona, Wyoming, New Mexico, Nebraska, Indiana and Illinois from Feb. 3, 2025, through May 6, 2025. Sell by dates can range from March 4, 2025, to June 19, 2025.

Egg Recall Is Due To Salmonella Outbreak

What can such brown eggs do to you? Well, any of the aforementioned lots of eggs could have none, some or potentially lots of salmonella bacteria in them. The CDC report didn’t include many details about when this outbreak was first suspected, how the investigation proceeded or how specifically the contamination may have occurred. The first two cases in the outbreak were reported on Feb. 24. California has had by far the most reported cases, with 63. Washington and Nevada are currently tied for second with four apiece, followed by Arizona with three. Nebraska and New Jersey each have had a pair of reported cases, and Kentucky has had one.

There is another current salmonella outbreak linked to cucumbers that has already left 45 people sick and 16 hospitalized across 18 states. That outbreak has prompted a recall of whole fresh cucumbers that were grown by Bedner Growers Inc. and distributed by Fresh Start Produce Sales Inc. from April 29 through May 19. So you should be checking your cucumbers as well.

That’s because you don’t want salmonellosis, which is an infection caused by salmonella, as I have written previously in Forbes. If enough salmonella gets into your gastrointestinal tract, within within six hours to six days in most cases, it can lead to diarrhea, fever and stomach cramps. This can make you exclaim “bloody diarrhea” for two reasons. One is that the diarrhea can be much worse than any you’ve ever experienced. And two, the diarrhea can have actual blood in it. The good news is that most people will recover after four to seven days of a holy bleep experience without requiring any treatment.

The bad news, though, is that some go on to suffer even worse illness necessitating hospitalization. Salmonellosis can become life-threatening, especially for those with weaker immune systems such as children younger than 5, adults older than 64 years or someone with chronic medical conditions or taking immunosuppressive medications.

All of this should egg you on to check your eggs. If you do have eggs any encompassed by the egg recall, return or discard them immediately. And make sure that you thoroughly clean and disinfect anything that may have touched the eggs, whether it’s other food, utensils or containers. Taking such precautions could save you a lot of trouble in the end, so to speak.