Wright County Egg (formerly DeCoster Egg Farms), based in Galt, Iowa, is one of the top ten poultry farms in the United States, [1] with a flock of more than 15 million chickens, and alleged modern-day slaver. [2] The company also produces pork.
The company was founded by Austin "Jack" DeCoster as a teenager, when his father died. All the family had were several hundred chickens. [2] [3]
In the 1990s and 2000s the company was raided by federal officials several times, and faced litigation. It was charged with violating employment laws by extensive hiring of illegal immigrant workers and maintaining abusive conditions. [4] [5] In addition, 300 undocumented female workers came forward with multiple claims of rape, sexual violence and sexual harassment, but no cases were prosecuted on their behalf. [6] A number of grocery chains boycotted the company in the 1990s over concern for working conditions. [7]
In June 2010, DeCoster pled guilty to animal cruelty charges with respect to the conditions of the egg-laying hens, after Mercy for Animals, an animal rights organization forwarded undercover video footage of company facilities in Maine. [3] [8] In August, 2010, the company recalled 380 million eggs in connection with a salmonella outbreak, [9] and a related company, Hillandale Farms, recalled 170 million eggs. [2] More than 3000 persons reported illnesses traced to contaminated eggs. [10]
Foodborne illness is any illness resulting from the contamination of food by pathogenic bacteria, viruses, or parasites, as well as prions, and toxins such as aflatoxins in peanuts, poisonous mushrooms, and various species of beans that have not been boiled for at least 10 minutes.
Conagra Brands, Inc. is an American consumer packaged goods holding company headquartered in Chicago, Illinois. Conagra makes and sells products under various brand names that are available in supermarkets, restaurants, and food service establishments. Based on its 2021 revenue, the company ranked 331st on the 2022 Fortune 500.
Salmonellosis is a symptomatic infection caused by bacteria of the Salmonella type. It is the most common disease to be known as food poisoning, these are defined as diseases, usually either infectious or toxic in nature, caused by agents that enter the body through the ingestion of food. In humans, the most common symptoms are diarrhea, fever, abdominal cramps, and vomiting. Symptoms typically occur between 12 hours and 36 hours after exposure, and last from two to seven days. Occasionally more significant disease can result in dehydration. The old, young, and others with a weakened immune system are more likely to develop severe disease. Specific types of Salmonella can result in typhoid fever or paratyphoid fever. Typhoid fever and paratyphoid fever are specific types of salmonellosis, known collectively as enteric fever, and are, respectively, caused by salmonella typhi & paratyphi bacteria, which are only found in humans. Most commonly, salmonellosis cases arise from salmonella bacteria from animals, and chicken is a major source for these infections.
Foster Farms is an American poultry company. The company has been privately owned since 1939. It was operated by the Foster family since 1939 until recently, now operated and owned by Atlas Holdings, after their purchase of the company in 2022. The company is based in Livingston, California. Operations are concentrated on the West Coast, but the company also maintains a small number of locations on the East Coast. The company specializes in a variety of chicken and turkey products advertised as fresh and naturally locally grown.
Intensive animal farming, industrial livestock production, and macro-farms, also known as factory farming, is a type of intensive agriculture, specifically an approach to animal husbandry designed to maximize production while minimizing costs. To achieve this, agribusinesses keep livestock such as cattle, poultry, and fish at high stocking densities, at large scale, and using modern machinery, biotechnology, and global trade. The main products of this industry are meat, milk and eggs for human consumption.
Poultry farming is the form of animal husbandry which raises domesticated birds such as chickens, ducks, turkeys and geese to produce meat or eggs for food. Poultry – mostly chickens – are farmed in great numbers. More than 60 billion chickens are killed for consumption annually. Chickens raised for eggs are known as layers, while chickens raised for meat are called broilers.
Proposition 2 was a California ballot proposition in that state's general election on November 4, 2008. It passed with 63% of the votes in favor and 37% against. Submitted to the Secretary of State as the Prevention of Farm Animal Cruelty Act, the initiative's name was amended to officially be known as the Standards for Confining Farm Animals initiative. The official title of the statute enacted by the proposition is the Prevention of Farm Animal Cruelty Act.
The 2008 United States salmonellosis outbreak was an outbreak of salmonellosis across multiple U.S. states due to Salmonella enterica serovar Saintpaul. Over the course of the outbreak, 1442 cases were identified across 43 U.S. states, the District of Columbia, and Canada. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) investigation determined that jalapeño peppers imported from Mexico as well as Serrano peppers were major sources of the outbreak. Tomatoes may have been a source as well. The outbreak lasted from April to August 2008.
Peanut Corporation of America (PCA) was a peanut-processing business which is now defunct as a result of one of the most massive and lethal food-borne contamination events in U.S. history.
Poultry farming is a part of the United States's agricultural economy.
The 2012 outbreak of Salmonella took place in 15 places worldwide with over 2,300 strains identified.
Salmonellosis annually causes, per CDC estimation, about 1.2 million illnesses, 23,000 hospitalizations, and 450 deaths in the United States every year.
The 2018 American salmonella outbreak was an American foodborne disaster that started in Iowa, spreading to 7 other states, sickening as many as 265 people, killing one, with 94 hospitalized. Ready-to-eat chicken salad was produced by Iowa-based Triple T Specialty Meats Inc. between January 2 and February 7 for distribution in Fareway grocery stores. Salad was sold in containers of various weights at Fareway stores deli from January 4 to February 9. Total of approximately 20 630 pounds of chicken were deemed contaminated with Salmonella Typhimurium at the time of recall on February 21.
The 2018 US egg recall was a product recall for fresh chicken eggs in the United States beginning on April 13, 2018. The United States Department of Agriculture recalled more than 200 million eggs after a salmonella outbreak connected to Iowa egg farms, including Rose Acre Farms.
Food safety in the United States relates to the processing, packaging, and storage of food in a way that prevents food-borne illness within the United States. The beginning of regulation on food safety in the United States started in the early 1900s, when several outbreaks sparked the need for litigation managing food in the food industry. Over the next few decades, the United States created several government agencies in an effort to better understand contaminants in food and to regulate these impurities. Many laws regarding food safety in the United States have been created and amended since the beginning of the 1900s. Food makers and their products are inspected and regulated by the Food and Drug Administration and the Department of Agriculture.
Antibiotic use in the United States poultry farming industry is the controversial prophylactic use of antibiotics in the country's poultry farming industry. It differs from the common practice in Europe, where antibiotics for growth promotion were disallowed in the 1950s.
Hillandale Farms is one of the largest suppliers of chicken eggs in the United States. Headquartered in Greensburg, Pennsylvania, it was founded in 1958 by Orland Bethel.
Austin "Jack" DeCoster is an American egg farmer and business executive. He founded Wright County Egg as a teenager.