Investigators say egg company knew of salmonella

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Iowa egg farm at the center of a massive salmonella outbreak received hundreds of positive results for salmonella in the two years before its eggs sickened more than 1,500 people, congressional investigators said today.

In a letter to the company's owner, the House Energy and Commerce Committee said its investigators had obtained records showing Wright County Egg received 426 positive results for salmonella between 2008 and 2010. The company recalled 380 million eggs in August after its products were linked to hundreds of illnesses.

The committee said the positive results found over the last two years included 73 samples that were potentially positive for Salmonella Enteritidis, the strain responsible for the recent outbreak.

The owner of Wright County Egg, Austin "Jack" DeCoster, was scheduled to testify before the panel next week. A company spokeswoman did not immediately respond to a request for comment.