As many as 207mln eggs are being taken off the shelves at Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT), Target Corp. (NYSE:TGT) and a string of other U.S. grocery chains and restaurants after the U.S. Food and Drug Administration reported that they might be contaminated with Salmonella.
The eggs, which were marketed by Rose Acre Farms of Seymour, Indiana, reached a number of grocery chain stores and restaurants in Colorado, Florida, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Virginia and West Virginia.
“Through an abundance of caution, Rose Acre Farms of Seymour, Indiana is voluntarily recalling 206,749,248 eggs because they have the potential to be contaminated with Salmonella Braenderup,” the FDA said in a statement.
Twenty-two illnesses stemming from the eggs, which were distributed from Rose Acre's farm in Hyde County, North Carolina, have been reported thus far.
Salmonella, which prompts fevers, diarrhea, nausea and vomiting, can cause serious and sometimes fatal infections in children, the elderly or anyone with a weakened immune system.
The brands, under which the eggs were sold, include Coburn Farms, Country Daybreak, Food Lion, Glenview, Great Value (Walmart’s store brand), Sunshine Farms and the restaurant Waffle House.
In pre-market trade, Walmart was flat at US$86.36, as was Target, which hovered at US$72.22.