Criminal charges filed in food safety case against Iowa egg farm

An Iowa-based egg producer and two of its executives are facing federal criminal charges in connection with a 2010 salmonella outbreak that led to the recall of more than a half-billion eggs in the United States, according to federal court documents filed Wednesday. Austin “Jack” DeCoster – once one of the nation’s largest producers of shelled chicken eggs – and his son Peter DeCoster were accused of introducing adulterated food into interstate commerce, according to the court documents. The men, along with their company, Quality Egg LLC, allegedly sold eggs contaminated with the strain of Salmonella Enteriditis that sickened hundreds of people in the United States. Quality Egg also was charged with at least twice paying bribes to a U.S. Department of Agriculture inspector at its egg plant to get the inspector to allow loads of eggs that failed to meet federal standards to be shipped out for sale, according to the document filed in the federal court in the Northern District of Iowa.