And two dead pigeons in the water tank

[essentialsaltes]

Summary of the FDA report on the Iowa egg farms connected with the salmonella outbreak. (link not safe for stomach)

Among the observations of the investigators:

— Live rodents and mice in laying houses at both farms;

— Structural damage and holes in many locations at both farms, allowing wildlife access;

— Escaped chickens tracking manure through the houses;

— Employees not changing clothing properly when moving from one location to another and not sanitizing equipment properly;

— "Live flies too numerous to count" on egg belts, in the feed, on the eggs themselves at Wright County Egg;

— Dead and live maggots "too numerous to count" on the manure pit floor in one location at Wright County Egg;

— Manure piled four to eight feet high in five locations at Wright County Egg, leaning against and pushing open doors that allowed wildlife to enter the laying houses;

— Nonchicken feathers in a laying house and wild birds flying in and out of two facilities at Wright County Egg;

— Manure seeping through the foundation to the outside of laying houses in 13 locations at Wright County Egg;

— Rusted holes in feed bins and birds flying over the feed bins at Wright County Egg;

Yo, Upton Sinclair's The Jungle was 100 years ago, dudes.

When the egg story was breaking (heh) I was pleased to see that Arnie recently signed a law that extended the regulations of the Chicken-loving proposition to out-of-state producers. I was less pleased to be reminded that the law takes effect in 2015.

(Oh, and pssst... you're probably eating those recalled eggs. But don't worry (seriously, don't worry! At least about your health.) because they're being pasteurized.)