FDA assigns highest-risk classification to recall covering 19 million eggs

The Food and Drug Administration has placed a recall covering nearly 19.1 million eggs in its Class I category, the agency's highest-risk classification, because possible Salmonella Enteritidis contamination could cause serious illness or death. Agence France-Presse reported that the FDA assigned the classification Wednesday to eggs Midwest Poultry Services voluntarily recalled on July 22.Agence France-Presse via Barron's · U.S. Food and Drug Administration recall notice

The recall covers 1,589,577 dozen white shell eggs and brown cage-free eggs produced at Texas farms between June 6 and July 3. The eggs were distributed through foodservice and retail channels in Texas, Oklahoma and Louisiana and were available at Kroger and Brookshire Grocery locations across Texas, Louisiana, Oklahoma, Arkansas, New Mexico and Mississippi, along with smaller retailers.U.S. Food and Drug Administration recall notice · Agence France-Presse via Barron's

Consumers should check the date-coding ink on either side of the carton for plant code P-1950 or 0840962 and a Julian date from 157 through 184. The affected products carry sell-by or best-by dates from July 20 through August 17, 2026, and include Kroger, Simple Truth, Brookshire's, Country Morning and Sunups packages as well as bulk foodservice packs. The FDA-posted recall notice says not to eat matching eggs and to return them to the place of purchase for a refund.U.S. Food and Drug Administration recall notice

The recall is connected to an ongoing federal investigation of a multistate Salmonella Enteritidis outbreak. The FDA reported 98 cases across 17 states, 26 hospitalizations and no deaths as of its July 24 update. Traceback work identified Midwest Poultry Services as a common egg source, while the agency cautioned that the producer does not account for all of the illnesses under investigation.U.S. Food and Drug Administration outbreak investigation

Midwest Poultry said in its recall announcement that it had not identified a specific illness linked to its products at that point. The FDA later said epidemiological, laboratory and traceback evidence made the recalled eggs a likely source for part of the outbreak, including company samples that matched the outbreak strain through whole-genome sequencing. Those findings support the recall without establishing that every recalled egg was contaminated or that every reported case came from Midwest Poultry.U.S. Food and Drug Administration recall notice · U.S. Food and Drug Administration outbreak investigation

Salmonella can cause fever, diarrhea, nausea, vomiting and abdominal pain. Young children, older adults and people with weakened immune systems face greater risk of severe or fatal infection, and the FDA's investigation remains open as officials look for other possible sources of illness.U.S. Food and Drug Administration recall notice · U.S. Food and Drug Administration outbreak investigation