Nationwide Egg Recall Issued Amid Multistate Salmonella Outbreak

Massive recall of nearly 2 million eggs comes as prices were beginning to drop from record highs.

A federal investigation into an ongoing multistate salmonella outbreak has prompted a recall of nearly 2 million eggs, due to a risk that they may be contaminated and cause consumers to experience serious and potentially life-threatening food poisoning illnesses.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) announced the shell egg recall on June 6, affecting brown cage free and certified organic eggs produced by August Egg Company of Hilmar, California. However, the recalled eggs have been sold under several different brand names.

Nationwide Salmonella Outbreak

According to a U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) report issued on June 7, the recalled eggs have been directly linked to an outbreak of Salmonella Enteritidis, which has sickened nearly 80 people across seven states. The illnesses have caused at least twenty-one people to require hospitalization.

However, CDC officials say the outbreak may be larger than currently believed, as not everyone who becomes ill reports the sickness to officials or requires medical treatment.

Salmonella is a leading cause of foodborne illness, causing more than 1.35 million infections across the U.S. each year. Infections typically develop in six hours to six days after exposure to tainted food and often last for four to seven days. Most healthy people experience fever, diarrhea, nausea, vomiting and abdominal pain, but often recover without treatment.

In some cases, salmonella can cause serious and sometimes fatal infections. In rare cases, salmonella can enter the bloodstream and result in more severe illnesses, such as arterial infections, endocarditis and arthritis, especially among children, older people or those with weakened immune systems. However, there have not been any deaths linked to the egg recall.

The recalled eggs were distributed under various brand names, including Clover, First Street, Nulaid, O Organics, Marketside, Raleys, Simple Truth, Sun Harvest and Sunnyside. They were sold at Safeway, Ralphs, Food 4 Less, Smart & Final, Save Mart, FoodMaxx, Lucky and Raleys from February 3 through May 15, 2025, with sell-by dates ranging from March 4 to June 4, 2025 in California and Nevada.

Additional eggs affected by the recall were distributed from February 3 through May 6, 2025, with sell-by dates from March 4 to June 19, 2025, sold at Walmart stores in California, Washington, Nevada, Arizona, Wyoming, New Mexico, Nebraska, Indiana and Illinois.

The affected cartons have a plant code number of P-6562 or CA 5330 with Julian Dates between 32 and 126.

The CDC indicates the eggs are linked to an ongoing investigation of illnesses related to products distributed in Arizona, California, Illinois, Indiana, Nebraska, New Mexico, Nevada, Washington and Wyoming.

The August Egg Company says it has stopped selling eggs for the past 30 days and has diverted the eggs to a facility that pasteurizes them and kills any potential foodborne pathogens.

Officials said consumers should not eat eggs affected by the recall, and instead can return any affected eggs to the store where they were purchased for a full refund. Consumers can contact August Egg Company with questions about the recall at 1-800-710-2554.

Tainted Egg Supply

This is not the first national problem affecting the supply and cost of eggs. Recently, the U.S. egg supply suffered after bird flu was detected in eggs and chicken flocks across the country.

While the average price of a dozen eggs across the U.S. is currently $2.63, egg prices jumped by more than 20% earlier in the year due to bird flu outbreaks, according to data from the U.S. Department of Agriculture. In March, the average price of eggs jumped to more than $8 per dozen before finally dropping. In California, the average price of a dozen eggs has consistently been above $7 since January.

Federal health officials have been working to contain the bird flu outbreak and reign in the skyrocketing price of eggs.