Fonterra Co-Operative Group Ltd. said its Internet-based auction for early September saw average whole-milk powder prices jump 18.8% after falling since May, something economists said will increase the chances the dairy giant meets its forecast milk payout for the 2010-2011 production season, pumping billions of dollars into the New Zealand economy. The Auckland dairy multinational and the world's largest exporter of dairy products said the average selling price for whole-milk powder was US$3,522 a metric ton, against US$2,974 a ton in August.
The criminal division of the Food and Drug Administration and the Justice Department have joined the probe of the Iowa farm at the heart of the recent egg recall linked to an outbreak of salmonella, according to FDA Commissioner Margaret Hamburg.
"There is a formal investigation going on that extends beyond the FDA inspections that are focused on farm practice," Dr. Hamburg told reporters Wednesday. "It is the case that an investigation is under way. We are pursuing it with our partners in law enforcement."
Dr. Hamburg declined to discuss details or to say whether Federal Bureau of Investigation agents have visited facilities of Wright County Egg, a major egg producer that recalled 380 million eggs in mid-August.
FDA spokeswoman Pat El-Hinnawy said Wednesday that federal agents visited both Wright County Egg and Hillandale Farms, the second producer involved in the recall, on Tuesday. She referred further questions to the U.S. attorney in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, who couldn't immediately be reached for comment.
Wright spokeswoman Hinda Mitchell said FDA enforcement agents were at Wright on Tuesday. "Wright County Egg is cooperating fully," she said. A Justice Department spokeswoman declined to comment.
Wright spokeswoman Hinda Mitchell said FDA officials were at Wright on Tuesday, and she said she believed FBI agents were also present. A Justice Department spokeswoman declined to comment.
Some 1,470 cases of salmonella have been reported to federal health authorities since late spring.
This week the FDA said that the strain of salmonella found in the patients was identified in samples of Wright's chicken feed and in a few places on the farm. It released a report detailing numerous sanitation problems at Wright County Egg and its parent company, Quality Egg LLC, which makes feed for Wright and another company involved in the recall, Hillandale Farms of Iowa.
Dr. Hamburg said the agency was working with the companies "to make sure that they clean up the subpar practices, that eggs do not go back into the marketplace that are not safe, and that we continue to make sure that there aren't further some recalls that might need to be taken in order to fully ensure that the public is protected."
Wright has said it was cooperating with the FDA and had already fixed many of the issues that were identified.
wsj.com
Source: newsroom - meattradenewsdaily.co.uk
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