Lax oversight of two Iowa egg producers was one factor that played into the largest egg recall in the industry's history.
The issue will probably be revisited in the first debate scheduled between Iowa Secretary of Agriculture Bill Northey and his Democratic opponent, Francis Thicke, Saturday at the Clay County Regional Events Center at 11 a.m. in Spencer.
Thicke, an organic dairy farmer near Fairfield, contends that Republican incumbent Northey and his employees "dropped the ball" in regard to inspecting the feed mill at the DeCoster family's Wright County Egg operation. In that operation, the federal Food and Drug Administration found traces of salmonella enteritidis, the same bacteria that sickened more than 1,000 people across the U.S. during an investigation into the company in August.
The investigation uncovered other unsanitary conditions that may have led to bacterial contamination. No single source for the outbreak has been named yet by the FDA.
"It's unclear whether or not anyone looked into what they were doing," Thicke said of the DeCoster feed mill. "Clearly, if they read the law carefully, if a feed mill distributes feed to a contract feeder, it needs to be inspected."
The Iowa Code states that only facilities producing commercial feed meant for distribution are to be inspected. Wright County Egg spokeswoman Hinda Mitchell previously said that the company provided feed to one of the sites at Hillandale Farms in New Hampton, which also recalled shell eggs due to contamination in August.
However, according the Department of Agriculture Communications Director Dustin VandeHoef, the department believed the DeCoster feed mill was only grinding and mixing feed for its own operation. There is no record of Wright County Egg receiving a license for its feed mill on a list of Iowa Feed Licenses issued by the Commercial Feed and Fertilizer Bureau updated in July.
The Department of Agriculture is investigating the relationship between Wright County Egg and Hillandale Farms. VandeHoef said a report on the department's findings at the Wright County Egg feed mill should be complete by today.
Northey said he believed the federal investigation into Wright County Egg and Hillandale Farms should be completed before commenting on the situation.
"We need a better understanding of what happened, and we'll know that when the FDA concludes its investigation," Northey said.
He added that if the state were to test feed mills of noncommercial producers, legislators would need to change the Iowa law in order to allow the Department of Agriculture to inspect private feed mills. The department already inspects 700 commercial operations across the state.
Thicke said he would be in favor of re-examining the feed mill inspection laws, considering the size of some feed production facilities.
"The secretary of agriculture has the authority to make rules in order to fulfill the intent of the law," Thicke said. "The intent of the law is to protect the food supply. It may be time to reconsider how these inspections are implemented in regard to the egg industry. Now, an isolated contamination can multiply exponentially and turn into a nationwide problem."
Contact Lindsey Mutchler at (515) 573-2141 or lindsey@messengernews.net