【英语国际】美国召回疑感染沙门氏菌的3.8亿枚鸡蛋

Food retailers and manufacturers are rushing to tell consumers that their products are safe amid a nationwide recall of 380 million eggs that may be infected with salmonella bacteria.

The Food and Drug Administration on Thursday said it hadn't yet found clear evidence of contamination, although heavy rainfall near the Iowa company that produced the eggs may have raised the risk.

Wright County Egg Co. of Galt, Iowa, on Wednesday expanded the recall from 228 million eggs recalled last week. The company is owned by Jack DeCoster, whose companies in the past have been fined by federal regulators for allegedly hiring illegal immigrants and for other alleged workplace violations.

A company spokeswoman said Mr. DeCoster wasn't available for an interview. She declined to comment beyond a statement saying that the recall was a voluntary measure and that the company continued to fully cooperate with the FDA.

The recalled eggs could be linked with hundreds of illnesses in at least 10 states, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Those numbers could grow as more data become available, U.S. health officials said.

The recall poses a threat to the wider egg-producing industry, thanks to confusion that can arise in the wake of recalls. In recent years, high-profile recalls for spinach and peanuts have led to temporary sales declines.

'Consumers don't take the time to look at the FDA Web page to see which suppliers are affected, ' said Mark Jarvis, CEO of Steritech Group Inc., which audits companies seeking food-safety and quality certification.

The eggs suspected in the salmonella outbreak were packed starting in May. While new FDA egg safety rules went into effect July 9, it is difficult to say for sure that they could have prevented the outbreak, said FDA Associate Commissioner Jeff Farrar. If all new egg safety rules had been in place earlier, 'it might have reduced the risk,' he said.

Timothy W. Martin

由于美国正在全国范围内召回3.8亿枚可能感染了沙门氏菌的鸡蛋，各食品零售商与生产商纷纷站出来向消费者表示，他们的产品是安全无污染的。

美国食品与药物管理局(FDA)周四称，被召回的鸡蛋是从爱荷华州输出的，尽管该州的暴雨增加了鸡蛋感染沙门氏菌的风险，但截至目前为止还未发现明确的相关证据。

生产问题鸡蛋的企业是位于爱荷华州高特(Galt)市的莱特郡鸡蛋公司(Wright County Egg Co.)，周三该公司将鸡蛋召回数量从上周的2.28亿枚进一步扩大。德•柯斯特尔(Jack DeCoster)是这家公司的老板，他名下的几个公司曾因涉嫌雇佣非法移民及其它据称是违反工作场所规定的事由受到联邦监管机构的罚款。

该公司发言人称，德•柯斯特尔无法接受采访。除发表声明说此次召回是公司的自愿行为以及公司会继续全面配合FDA的调查外，该发言人拒绝作出其它置评。

美国疾病控制和预防中心(Centers for Disease Control and Prevention)表示，至少十个州内上百人的患病可能与被召回的鸡蛋有关。美国卫生部官员称，掌握更多相关数据后，病例人数可能会继续增加。

由于产品召回事件后一段时间消费者搞不清究竟哪些产品才是安全的，所以此次鸡蛋召回会对整个产蛋业造成危害。近几年，美国对菠菜和花生的高调召回引发了相关产品的暂时性销售低迷。

Steritech Group Inc.是一家负责对寻求食品安全和质量认证的企业进行审计的公司，其首席执行长查韦斯(Mark Jarvis)说，消费者是不会花时间到FDA网站上仔细查询是哪些供应商的鸡蛋受到污染的。

那些怀疑受到沙门氏菌感染的鸡蛋是从5月份起陆续包装出厂的。FDA的副专员法勒(Jeff Farrar)说，由于FDA新出台的鸡蛋安全法规于7月9日开始生效，因此很难说该法规是否有效阻止了此次沙门氏菌的疫情。他说，如果新的鸡蛋安全法规早点出台，此次问题鸡蛋大量上市出售的问题可能就不会发生了。