Egg recall in US grows to half a billion

Iowa's Hillandale Farms announced it was recalling 170 million eggs after tests confirmed salmonella.

The news follows a recall of 380 million eggs by another Iowa farm earlier this week.

A spokeswoman for the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) said the two cases are linked.

Regulators said salmonella cases have increased threefold since May.

About 2,000 salmonella cases were reported between May and July, roughly 1,300 more than usual, the Centers for Disease Control said.

The newest recall from Hillandale Farms applies to eggs sold between April and August.

The salmonella strains causing the illnesses are the same from both farms, according to the Food and Drug Administration.

Hillandale Farms said the eggs were distributed under five different names in 14 US states, while Wright County Egg announced this week the company distributes its product under more than a dozen names.

The recent outbreak could be caused by rodents, shipments of contaminated hens, or tainted feed, says Cornell University microbiology professor Patrick McDonough.

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