On Friday, April 13th, numerous grocery stores around the country for their supply of eggs. Over 200 million eggs in stores were reportedly tainted by salmonella; the most note worthy stores among the bunch being Walmart and Food Lion. The batch of eggs that were unfortunately bought and consumed by customers, has reportedly caused illness among over 20 people. Recent investigations by the U.S Food and Drug Administration, FDA, found that the farm that supplied the eggs to these stores had violated heath codes. Before the salmonella outbreak, North Carolina Rose Acre Farm had been undergoing inspections by the FDA from March into early this month, and they found that the farm was conducting horrifying heath procedures.

Rodents, unsanitary working conditions, and nonchalant employee health regulations were all taking place there at the farm. Employees didn’t wear clothing to protect their hands from contact with the food. Rodents droppings were found in certain sectors of the farm; left uncleaned. And most horrifically, some employees would scratch or touch certain areas of their bodies with no gloves, and would cross contaminated the produce.  Though this raises the question of how the eggs were able to travel throughout different states if the farm knew they were unsanitary?

Sources say that the eggs weren’t contaminated when they left the facilities, but over time, they began causing sickness. I spoke to Eleanor Roosevelt High student, Joann Chen, what her thoughts were on the recall. She said, “Hearing about stuff like that is really scaring. Just knowing that people are that uncaring in regards to food and sanitation makes me worried about what I’m putting into my body.”

It is unclear if North Carolina Rose Acre Farms are facing any legal repercussions for there actions, but it may be safe to assume that they will be held accountable for the hospitalization of the 20 people that were I’ll from salmonella poisoning.