Restaurants shift egg suppliers after recallsRestaurants shift egg suppliers after recalls

Lisa Jennings

With a second supplier recalling shell eggs over salmonella concerns, restaurant operators said they were working to find safe sources of the product.

More than 1,000 people across the country by Friday were reportedly identified as having the strain of salmonella enteritidis that has been linked to shell eggs served in restaurants or sold in stores in multiple states. Health officials say the number of salmonella cases from May through July is approaching 2,000 — nearly three times the average number of cases recorded for the same period over the past five years — though not all have been identified as the same strain tied to the eggs.

As of Friday, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention had identified 26 restaurants or events where more than one ill person with the outbreak strain had eaten. The CDC did not identify the restaurants or their locations.

Wright County Egg, a Galt, Iowa-based egg producer that has recalled an estimated 380 million eggs over the past week, was the egg source for 15 of those restaurants or events, the CDC said.

On Thursday, however, Hillandale Farms, based in New Hampton, Iowa, also issued a voluntary recall of eggs packed under the Hillandale Farms, Sunny Farms and Sunny Meadow brand names, as well as loose eggs packaged under the Wholesome Farms and West Creek brands.

By Friday, the breakfast-heavy IHOP chain said it had identified and replaced all the recalled eggs among its 1,466 restaurants.

Patrick Lenow, spokesman for IHOP parent company, Glendale, Calif.-based DineEquity Inc., said a few stores were unable to get shell eggs for short periods last week, and instead used pasteurized liquid egg products that the chain typically uses for scrambled eggs and omelets.

“Some restaurants had maybe a day or a half day when shell eggs weren’t available,” Lenow said.

Smashburger, which offers a fried egg as a burger topping and hard-cooked eggs in some salads, said four of its 74 locations were forced to find alternative egg sources following the recall.

“This is unfortunate that this happened with eggs, but I think consumer confidence will bounce back because this was a sporadic event,” said Tom Ryan, founder of Denver-based Smashburger.

Ryan said the fried eggs sometimes served on the chain’s burgers are cooked to safe temperatures.

In Los Angeles County — where health officials said Friday that about 60 people have been identified as having the strain of salmonella tied to the egg recall — restaurant operators said consumers were not being shy about asking for their eggs runny.

The four-unit Pitfire Pizza chain, for example, offers “green eggs and ham,” a pizza topped with braised rapini, prosciutto, Parmesan and an egg. The pizza is cooked in an 800-degree oven, said Pitfire co-owner Paul Hibler, which would likely kill the bacteria.

After the recall, however, Hibler said he switched egg suppliers to a local farm, which he felt was safer.

“We’re paying twice as much for eggs now,” he said. “It’s not a huge impact because it’s really just one dish, but it’s just to be on the safe side.”

Egg recall details:

The recalled Hillandale eggs were distributed to distribution centers, grocery stores and foodservice companies in Arkansas, California, Iowa, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, Ohio, South Dakota, Texas, and Wisconsin.

The Hillandale eggs have plant numbers 1860 with Julian dates ranging from 099 to 230; and plant number 1663, with Julian dates ranging from 137 to 230.

The recalled eggs from Wright County Egg were distributed to food wholesalers, distribution centers and foodservice companies in California, Arizona, Missouri, Minnesota, Texas, Georgia, Washington, Oregon, Colorado, Nevada, Iowa, Illinois, Utah, Nebraska, Arkansas, Wisconsin and Oklahoma.

The eggs were packed in varying sized-cartons under the following brand names: Albertson’s, Farm Fresh, James Farms, Glenview, Mountain Dairy, Ralph’s, Boomsma’s, Lund, Kemps and Pacific Coast.

The first batch of Wright County Eggs recalled on Aug. 13 had the Julian dates 136 to 225 and plant numbers 1026, 1413, and 1946. The company later expanded the recall to include eggs with the Julian dates ranging from 136 to 229 and plant numbers 1720 and 1942.

The CDC is investigating the salmonella outbreak with the Food and Drug Administration, the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety and Inspection Service and various local health officials. Click here for more information.

Contact Lisa Jennings at [email protected].