Eastern Sierra markets appear clear of salmonella-tainted eggs

Mammoth and Bishop locals can still whip up omelets, scramble, fry and poach to their hearts’ content.

According to an Associated Press report on Friday, more than a half-billion eggs have been recalled in the nationwide investigation of a salmonella outbreak that Friday expanded to include a second Iowa farm. The outbreak has already sickened more than 1,000 people, including almost 300 in California, and the toll of illnesses is expected to increase. Eggs sold in Mammoth and Bishop markets, however, appear to be free of the bacteria.

The latest bunch of bad eggs reportedly originated from Iowa’s Hillandale Farms, which said Friday it was recalling more than 170 million eggs after laboratory tests confirmed salmonella. The company did not say if its action was connected to the recall by Wright County Egg, another Iowa farm that recalled 380 million eggs earlier this week. The latest recall puts the total number of potentially tainted eggs at about 550 million.

Lucerne brand eggs, sold in Vons markets in Bishop and Mammoth, are not from the same supplier as the the one involved in the recall. Bishop’s Manor Market also said it doesn’t sell the recalled eggs; neither does Joseph’s Bi-Rite store.

While the eggs are widely distributed mostly in states located in the Midwest and West, including California, most of the egregious eggs are sold in so-called “big box” stores. –Sheet Staff/AP/Sierra Wave