FDA announced that August Egg Company of Hilmar, CA is recalling 1,700,000 dozen brown cage free and brown certified organic eggs, because they have the potential to be contaminated with Salmonella. 

A total of 79 people infected with the outbreak strain of Salmonella have been reported from seven states. Illnesses started on dates ranging from February 24, 2025, to May 17, 2025. Twenty-seven of 30 cases with information available reported exposure to eggs or an egg containing dish before becoming ill. There have been 21 hospitalizations, and no deaths have been reported.

The eggs were distributed from February 3, 2025, through May 15, 2025, with sell by dates from March 4, 2025, to June 4, 2025, within California and Nevada. The eggs were distributed at retail locations including Save Mart, FoodMaxx, Lucky, Smart & Final, Safeway, Raleys, Food 4 Less and Ralphs.

The eggs were also distributed from February 3, 2025, through May 6, 2025, with sell by dates from March 4, 2025, to June 19, 2025, to Walmart locations in California, Washington, Nevada, Arizona, Wyoming, New Mexico, Nebraska, Indiana and Illinois.

The CDC states that the true number of sick people in this outbreak is also likely much higher than the number reported. This is because many people recover without medical care and are not tested for Salmonella.

Marion Nestle in her “Food Politics” blog commented about the recall, “To endlessly repeat: Salmonella in eggs is preventable, but nobody is making egg producers do what they need to do to prevent hens from getting infected. If 79 cases and 21 hospitalizations doesn’t get you upset, ask yourself why you are inured to such information.  One more time: these are preventable illnesses and hospitalizations. And no, organic and cage free conditions do not prevent hens from carrying Salmonella. And how could they?  I’ve been to industrial organic egg production facilities and have seen thousands of hens on top of each other in crowded barns. We have the laws. They need to be enforced”.