An editorial
in an Iowa newspaper asks a lot of poignant questions about the egg scandal
that ended in the court sentencing of Jack and son Peter DeCoster this month.
“What's more
worrisome than the (leniency of the) 90-day sentences is the fact that the
DeCosters flouted federal regulations for years without ever being caught.
“The
regulatory system that is supposed to prevent — not simply respond to —
violations of food-safety regulations failed us completely.
“It wasn't
until consumers started becoming ill that investigators took any sort of
meaningful action against the DeCosters,” the editorial says.
“According to
federal authorities, the company deliberately and routinely provided false
paperwork to an independent auditing firm that periodically inspected the plant
and reviewed the company's records to ensure the eggs were safe.
“On the eve
of each impending audit, workers were given blank, signed audit forms and told
to fabricate data for the reports.
“This went on
for at least three years, at a time when the DeCosters were producing more than
1 million eggs per day.
“For at least
eight years, Quality Egg regularly shipped its customers eggs that were labeled
with falsified processing dates and expiration dates to conceal the fact that
the eggs were old. “According to court records, this mislabeling of DeCoster
eggs ‘was a common practice, and was well known among several Quality Egg
employees.’
“In 2010,
federal inspectors conducted on-site visits to the company's egg-laying
facilities and feed mill.
“ Inside, they
found frogs, wild birds, a chicken skeleton, mice, beetles, maggots and flies
and manure that was piled to the rafters inside one building.
“Salmonella
contamination was pervasive and widespread ‘throughout the entirety’ of the
Decosters' Wright County egg operations.
“On at least
two occasions, Quality Egg officials bribed a USDA inspector to overlook
regulatory violations — in one case, paying $300 from the company's petty cash
account.”
This could be Ontario where the two largest egg-grading companies have, according to Canadian Food Inspection Agency inspection reports, routinely sold cracked and dirty eggs in Grade A cartons, and had advance notice of CFIA inspections.
There have been allegations that L.H. Gray and Son Ltd. has put outdated egg returns from supermarkets into new packages with new expiry dates.
There is no evidence so far that any CFIA inspectors were bribed, but it does seem they have not been aggressive on behalf of Canadian consumers.
The egg-grading companies continue to insist in court that they have not engaged in any wrongdoing.
