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KLMNO WASHINGTON BUSINESS Egg recall spreads to second Iowa producer by David Brown
The investigation of an out- break of intestinal illnesses in 10 states pointed Friday to a second major Iowa egg producer as the possible source of contaminated food that has led to the near- tripling in salmonella cases in the past three months. Hillandale Farms of Iowa on
Friday voluntarily recalled 170 million eggs produced since April 9 after epidemiologists in Minnesota linked its products to a salmonella outbreak in May. In two earlier recalls during the past eight days, another Iowa company, Wright County Egg, re- called 380 million eggs, some laid as long ago as mid-May. The newly recalled eggs were distributed in 14 states in the West and Midwest. As with the previously recalled eggs, the vast majority are presumed to have already been eaten. The latest recall grew out of an
investigation by federal and state scientists into a sharp spike in in- fections caused by Salmonella enteritidis, the second-leading cause of foodborne illness. In May, June and July, the Centers for Disease Control and Preven- tion received samples from 1,953 S. enteritidis cases. Normally in that period it gets about 700. Salmonella outbreaks are rela- tively common, and often the source of contamination is never found. It might be that the two egg-related outbreaks involving Iowa farms are coincidental and happened to have been caught because of increased investiga- tive attention on the problem.
chickens] and feed to both com- panies and is owned by the DeCoster family,” she said. Wright County Egg is one of the DeCoster family’s many agribusi- ness holdings. Hillandale Farms of Iowa is
part of a privately held national chain of poultry and dairy farms. It has 2million hens in two towns in Iowa, Alden and West Union, DeYoung said. Its daily production is now being sent to a processing plant where the eggs are broken and the liquid whites and yolks are treated in a way that kills all bacteria. The same is true of Wright County Egg’s products. Testing is underway to see
REED SAXON/ASSOCIATED PRESS
A sign warns customers of the recall of certain lots of eggs that had been previously sold at a supermarket in Los Angeles.
“The investigations are still in process to determine a potential commonality,” said Sherri McGarry of the Food and Drug Administration’s Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition. One of the main things investi-
gators are trying to determine is whether the two companies
share a reason for their products to have become contaminated. Aspokeswoman for Hillandale
Farms, Julie DeYoung, said Fri- day that the company and Wright County Egg do use some of the same suppliers. “One of those suppliers is Quality Egg LLC, which supplies [young
whether the farms apparently in- volved are harboring the bacteri- um in their birds, eggs, henhous- es or chicken feed. The tests won’t be finished until next week, an FDA official said. In all, 26 outbreaks of salmo- nella linked to restaurant food are under investigation. In 15 of them, initial sleuthing by epi- demiologists pointed to Wright County Egg of Galt, Iowa, as a supplier of at least some eggs to the places where people ate. In five of those outbreaks, FDA scientists scoured records at res- taurants, egg wholesalers, dis- tributors, processors and farms and determined that Wright County products were, in fact, used by the restaurants, a CDC epidemiologist said Friday. Gov- ernment and state health investi- gators are studying the other 11 outbreaks to see if the source of infection can be found. It was the investigation of one of those outbreaks — seven peo-
ple who became ill after eating chili rellenos at a Minnesota res- taurant in May — that led to Hil- landale Farms, said Josh Rounds, an epidemiologist at the Minne- sota Department of Health. In two other Minnesota outbreaks, one involving three cases in mid- June and another involving four cases late last month, products from Wright County Egg ap- peared to be involved, he said. Salmonella enteritidis infec- tions can cause nausea, vom- iting, abdominal pain, diarrhea and fever. The illness can be briefly severe but is rarely life- threatening. In people with de- pressed immune systems, such as AIDS patients, however, it can cause fatal bloodstream infec- tions. No deaths have been reported in the 26 outbreaks that are part of the national investigation. In a report published this week, the CDC estimated there are 76 million food-borne illness- es in the United States each year. The vast majority, however, are never investigated by public health authorities. In the most recent tabulate
year, 2007, there were 1,097 in- vestigated outbreaks causing 21,244 cases of illness and 18 deaths. Five of the deaths were caused by Salmonella. The Hillandale Farms eggs re- called Friday were sold under that brand name and Sunny Farms and Sunny Meadow. The recalls altogether affect eggs sold under more than a dozen brand names. A way to identify the car- tons of affected eggs can be found at
www.eggsafety.org.
browndm@washpost.com
Unemployment edges downward in the District Figures from the 48 other
July rate dipped to 9.8% as Va. and Md. held steady at about 7%
by Frank Ahrens
Unemployment dropped slightly in the District in July, while jobless rates in Maryland and Virginia held steady at well below the national average, ac- cording to government data re- leased Friday.
states, however, suggest that job growth has slowed, mirroring economic data showing that the recovery has stalled. The unemployment rate in the
District, which the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics said dropped from 10 percent in June to 9.8 percent in July, remains above the national average of 9.5 per- cent. A year ago, the jobless rate in the District was 10.4 percent. Unemployment rates last month remained at 7.1 percent in Maryland and 7 percent in Vir- ginia, according to the data.
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U.S. Stock Market Performance Index
Dow Jones Industrial Average
10,500 10,425 10,350 10,275 10,200 10,125
Nasdaq Composite Index
2230 2205 2180 2155
S&P 500 Index
1104 1096 1088 1080 1072 1064
Mon. Tue.
Dow Jones 30 Industrials Company Close Alcoa
Weekly %Chg
3M
AmExp AT&T BoA
Boeing
Caterpillar Chevron
Exxon Mobil GE
Home Depot HP
80.66 10.57 40.76 26.45 12.87 64.60 68.86 75.05
Cisco Systems 22.23 Coca-Cola DuPont
55.30 40.34 58.89 15.03 28.17 39.85
–4.0
1 Year %Chg
–0.7 –15.0 –2.3 –1.0
–2.7 –24.9 –0.4 1.3
–3.0 4.1
–0.8 0.1
–1.7 –2.3 3.1
–1.5
Other Measures Index
13.2 25.3
3.6
44.4 51.3 9.4 1.6
11.9 26.3
–14.1 8.8 5.6
–9.4 Close
DJ Total Stock Market Index 11,151.43 Russell 2000
Post-Bloomberg DC Area Index 184.15 CBOE Volatility (VIX)
610.78 25.49 Wed. Thur.
Company Close IBM
Intel J&J
JPMorgCh Kraft Foods McDonald's Merck
Microsoft P&G Co Pfizer
Travelers
United Tech Verizon
Wal-Mart Walt Disney Fri.
Weekly %Chg
127.50 18.91 58.74 37.14 29.10 73.08 34.44 24.23 59.98 15.92 50.09 68.12 29.37 50.22 33.05
–0.3 –1.3 1.0
–1.6 –0.7 0.3
–1.0 –0.1 –3.6 –2.2 –0.4 –1.9
1 Year %Chg
7.2 1.1
–1.0 –12.4 –1.4 1.7
–3.6 2.6
30.2 9.9 2.4 13.1 –1.9 4.8
19.0 2.4
–2.9 27.7
Interest Rates Consumer Rates
Weekly%Chg 1 Year%Chg –0.5 0.2
–1.1 –2.9
7.6 7.4 6.1 1.6
Money market funds 6-Month CDs 1-Year CDs 5-Year CDs New car loan Home-equity loan
0.71 0.79 1.08 2.37 6.10 7.36
0.33% 0.25% 3.25%
Bank Prime Federal Funds LIBOR 3-Month
30-Year fixed mortgage 15-Year fixed mortgage 1-Year ARM
3.63% 3.94% 4.51%
1071.69 –0.7 +6.4 2179.76 +0.3 +9.6
Both numbers are largely un- changed from July of last year. Overall, jobless rates in July fell in 18 states and the District, rose in 14 states and stayed the same in 18 states. Each month since May, unemployment rates dropped in more than 30 states; the July numbers indicate that employers have stopped hiring. Indeed, a recent spike in new weekly jobless claims filed na- tionally shows that employers are back to making layoffs be- cause of the economy’s uncertain future.
Still, some analysts remained
positive. Job market improvement “is
slow, but it’s still moving in the right direction,” Steve Cochrane, an economist at Moody’s Ana- lytics, told the Associated Press. July job growth was helped by some isolated events. For exam- ple, in Michigan, General Motors did not implement its usual summer assembly-line shut- down, kept producing new vehi- cles and avoided layoffs. For the third straight month,
Nevada had the nation’s highest unemployment rate, at 14.3 per- cent; it was one of the “sand
THE MARKETS
Weekly Close %Chg
1 Year %Chg
10,213.62 –0.9 +9.2 Industry Group Distributors
Specialty Retail Automobiles
Power Prodct & Enrgy Trdr Biotechnology
Commercial Banks Gas Utilities
S&P 500 Industry Group Snapshot –5%
Weekly %Chg
Communications Equipment Multiline Retail Software
3.1 2.5 2.4 2.3 2.2
–2.9 –3.3 –3.4 –3.7 –4.5
International Stock Markets Americas
Close
Brazil (Bovespa) Canada (S&P/TSX Comp.) Mexico (Bolsa) Europe
Eurozone (DJ Stoxx 600) France (CAC 40) Germany (DAX) U.K. (FTSE 100)
Asia Pacific
Australia (ASX 200) China (CSI 300) Hong Kong (Hang Seng) Japan (Nikkei)
66,677.16 11,722.07 32,291.67
252.15
3526.12 6005.16 5195.28 4430.90
2898.33
20,981.82 9179.38
Cross Currency Rates EU €
US $
US $ per EU € per
Japan ¥ per Britain £ per Brazil R$ per
Canada $ per Mexico $ per
1.2714 0.7866
85.6000 108.8400 0.6437 1.7562 1.0480
Weekly %Chg
0.6 1.7
0.6
–1.3 –2.3 –1.7 –1.5 –0.6
1.5
–0.4 –0.8
Japan ¥ 0.0117 0.0092
0.8183 0.0075 2.2326 0.0205 1.3324 0.0122
12.7638 16.2272 0.1490 Britain £
1.5536 0.5694 1.2219 0.4479
Brazil R$ Canada $ Mexico $ 0.9543 0.0784 0.7506 0.0616
132.9900 48.7378 81.6900 6.7070 0.3665
2.7286 1.6282 0.5969
0.6141 0.0504 1.6753 0.1376 0.0821
19.8304 7.2680 12.1800 Treasury Performance Over Past Three Months
10-year note Yield:
5-year note Yield:
2.61 1.45
4:30 p.m. New York time.
2-year note Yield:
6-month bill Yield:
0.49 0.18
Note: Bank prime is from 10 major banks. Federal Funds rate is the market rate, which can vary from the federal target rate. LIBOR is the London Interbank Offered Rate. Consumer rates are from Bankrate. All figures as of
1Year%Chg –20%
0% +5%
Commodities Futures
Copper Corn
Crude Oil Gold
Natural Gas
states” hit hardest by the hous- ing crash. Michigan came in at No. 2 with 13.1 percent. And Cali- fornia, struggling with budget deficit problems, came in third with a rate of 12.3 percent. North Dakota continued to be the most-employed state, with a jobless rate of 3.6 percent. South Dakota was second at 4.4 per- cent. The Dakotas’ neighbor to the south, Nebraska, came in at 4.7 percent. Unemployment has been a stranger to parts of the Upper Plains during the eco- nomic downturn.
ahrensf@washpost.com
LOCAL DIGEST ACQUISITIONS
VSE buys Akimeka for $33 million Military contractor VSE said
Thursday that it has bought Aki- meka for about $33 million, ex- panding its health services infor- mation technology consulting business.
Akimeka is based in Hawaii,
with offices in Virginia, Florida and Texas. The company had rev- enue of about $38 million in 2009.
Shares of Alexandria-based
VSE fell $1.04, or 3.7 percent, Fri- day to close at $27.11. — Associated Press
TRADING
EntreMed at risk of falling off Nasdaq Pharmaceutical developer En-
treMed said this week that its market value is too low to meet requirements to retain its Nas- daq listing. After Thursday’s announce- ment, the Rockville-based com- pany, which is working on can- cer-treatment medication, said it has until Feb. 14 to meet the ex- change’s rules in order to main- tain its listing on the small-cap Nasdaq Capital Market. Companies traded on that ex-
change are required to have a market value of at least $35 mil- lion for 30 consecutive business days. In order to regain compliance with the requirements, EntreMed must have a minimum market capitalization of $35 million for at least 10 consecutive business days.
On Friday, EntreMed had a
market cap of about $31 million. Its shares fell 4 cents to close at
$3.36. — Associated Press
SATURDAY, AUGUST 21, 2010
On Mondays, The Washington Post offers Capital Business, a weekly publication covering the region’s business community. A one-year subscription costs $49 and is available only to Post subscribers. Visit
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Data and graphics by
Weekly Close %Chg
$3.2910 $4.2125 $73.46
$1227.20 $4.12
+1.2 +2.3 –2.6 +1.0 –4.9
Value of $1000 invested for the past: Exchange-Traded (Ticker)
Weekly %Chg
0% +20%
Coffee (COFF.L) Copper (COPA.L) Corn (CORN.L) Cotton (COTN.L) Crude Oil (CRUD.L) Gasoline (UGAS.L) Gold (BULL.L)
Natural Gas (NGAS.L) Silver (SLVR.L)
2.7 1.2 0.7
–1.7 –2.4 –1.3 1.1
–4.8 –0.5
Local Gainers and Losers Value of $1000 invested for the past: Company
ICx Technologies Chindex Intl Sourcefire Inc
Opnet Technologies USA Mobility Inc Intersections Inc Fortress Intl
MiddleburgFinancial Severn Bancorp Inc Cuisine Solutions AlliedDefenseGroup Carrollton Bancorp Neuralstem Inc Strayer Education
$3.36 $7.65
$13.65 $22.08 $14.58 $14.19 $8.76 $1.45
$14.30 week
Weekly Close %Chg
MHM Services Inc $2000.00 48.1 Entremed
30.7 13.3 12.3 11.1
10.6 9.9 9.4
–8.8 –9.2
$4.37 –11.7 $1.05 –12.5 $2.86 –12.8 $4.80 –13.4 $1.84 –15.2 $163.25 –18.4
$0 $1000
year $2200
Orange Juice Silver
Soybeans Sugar Wheat
$600
Weekly Close %Chg
$1.3480 $17.99
$10.0925 $0.1995 $6.7900
week $1000
–2.3 –0.7 –4.1 +2.7 –3.3
year $1400
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