“What I mean by that is we were big before we started adopting sophisticated procedures to be sure we met all of the government requirements,” the egg producer, Austin J. DeCoster, said in testimony before a House Energy and Commerce subcommittee. He is the founder of an egg empire that has beenlinked over three decades to multiple deadly outbreaksof salmonella poisoning in many states.
Mr. DeCoster’s company, Wright County Egg, and another company, Hillandale Farms, recalled more than 500 million eggs last month after health officials traced salmonella bacteria that sickened more than 1,500 people to those companies.
A subsequent inspection by theFood and Drug Administrationfound that the barns of the egg producers were infested with flies, maggots and rodents, and had overflowing manure pits. Records unearthed by Congressional investigators showed that tests of Wright County Egg barns had shown the presence of toxic salmonella bacteria for years prior to the outbreak.
“We were horrified to learn that our eggs may have made people sick,” Mr. DeCoster, who is known as Jack, said in a shaky voice.“We apologize to everyone who may have been sickened by eating our eggs.”
The egg producer’s frequent run-ins with regulators over labor, environmental andimmigrationviolations at his operations have been well documented, and in his four-paragraph statement, Mr. DeCoster also accepted responsibility for mistakes that the company has made in complying with government regulations over the years.
Pictures taken at the DeCoster facilities of barns bursting with manure, manure flowing under barn doors, and barns with dead rodents, chickens and flies were shown at the hearing. Members of the committee expressed outrage that such conditions were allowed to continue.
“DeCoster farms have had warning after warning” for decades, said RepresentativeHenry A. Waxman, a California Democrat.“Yet they continue to raise chickens in slovenly conditions and to make millions of dollars by selling contaminated eggs.”
The hearing was briefly interrupted by two animal rights activists, who unfurled an anti-egg banner and repeatedly chanted:“All eggs kill!” The police escorted them from the room.
Democratic members of the committee denounced SenatorTom Coburn, a Republican from Oklahoma who has objected to a Democratic plan to bringfood safetylegislation to a vote.
“This is a public health imperative,” said RepresentativeEdward J. Markey, a Democrat from Massachusetts.“There must be some exceptions for Republicans in the Senate. They must release this bill so that we can protect millions of families.”
But Representative Michael C. Burgess, a Republican of Texas, said that Mr. Coburn’s objections had not prevented the legislation from being considered by the Senate. Mr. Burgess sought to read a statement from Mr. Coburn at the hearing, but RepresentativeBart Stupak, the chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations, cut off Mr. Burgess’s microphone— an action that led to a sharp exchange of words between the lawmakers.
“I voted with you on the dang bill, I’ve worked with you on the dang bill,” Mr. Burgess said.“It is preposterous that the majority has conducted the hearing this way when he’s not the problem.”
And then, referring to Mr. Coburn, Mr. Burgess added:“He may become a problem if the majority leader brings it to the floor,” a remark that elicited laughter from the room.
Indeed, Republicans in the House and in the Senate have largely supported the legislation, and one reason was provided by Representative Bob Latta, a Republican of Ohio. Mr. Latta said he had sufferedfood poisoningtwice.“A lot of us go to a lot of events, and you eat what is put in front of you,” he said.
Carol Lobato, a 77-year-old retiree from Littleton, Colo., told the committee about a life-threatening Salmonella infection that she got from eating an appetizer of rattlesnake cakes from The Fort Restaurant in the town of Morrison, Colo. Her husband and grandson were also sickened, although not as badly.
“The infection wiped me out to the point that I could not function on my own or even get to the bathroom by myself,” she said. She spent five days in the hospital and still suffers routineindigestionand fatigue.“I lost eight pounds while being in the hospital, the only plus during this ordeal.”
Mr. DeCoster told the panel that Wright County Egg has for 10 years used employee training, additional monitoring and other steps that go beyond government requirements to ensure that his company’s eggs are safe.
“With all of these systems, we have made important strides, and I am proud of our work,” his statement says.
He does not explain, however, why those measures failed this year.
His son, Peter DeCoster, who is Wright County Egg’s chief operating officer, told the committee that the company failed to test its eggs for the presence of salmonella bacteria despite environmental tests that showed that his barns were contaminated because“our perception was that egg test results always would be negative,” according to his written testimony.
After the company’s farms were linked with the present outbreak of salmonella, however, the company sent 70,200 eggs, enough to represent each farm, for testing.
“These tests confirmed that Wright County Egg was producing eggs contaminated with” salmonella, Peter DeCoster said in his testimony.
In his testimony, Peter DeCoster promised to vaccinate all of his flocks against salmonella, a relatively inexpensive measure that can be highly effective in preventing the spread of the disease but that is still not required by the F.D.A.
“By focusing on our flocks, our feed and our worker biosecurity protocols we intend to demonstrate our commitment to the production of eggs that are high quality and safe,” he said.
He told the committee that the company suspects that contaminated feed was the culprit.
Inspection reports released by the F.D.A. in late Augustpointed to a feed milloperated by Wright County Egg as a potential source of the contamination. Officials said tests found salmonella in bone meal, a feed ingredient, and in feed given to young birds, which were raised to become laying hens.
In addition, the inspection reported birds roosting and flying about the mill. Nesting material was seen in parts of the mill, including the ingredient storage area and an area where trucks were loaded.
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