Walnut Ridge Farm 1 – FDA Warning Letter, Aug 2, 2018

On February 12, 2019, the FDA issued a Warning Letter to Walnut Ridge Farm following an inspection from August 1-2, 2018. The inspection revealed serious violations of the Prevention of Salmonella Enteritidis (SE) in Shell Eggs During Production, Storage, and Transportation regulation (21 CFR 118), rendering their shell eggs adulterated under the FD&C Act.

Key violations include: 1. **Failure to implement a farm-specific SE prevention plan (21 CFR 118.4):** The provided plan was generic, lacking specifics on poultry house size, cross-contamination prevention for farm-specific equipment, detailed cleaning/disinfecting procedures, refrigeration methods, and a written "No Birds at Home Policy." The updated plan submitted in response was also deemed inadequate. 2. **Failure to test the pullet environment at 14-16 weeks of age (21 CFR 118.4(a)(2)(i)):** No documentation was provided for SE testing of the current flock, which should have occurred between February 17 and March 3, 2018. 3. **Failure to maintain records documenting compliance with SE prevention measures (21 CFR 118.10):** Specifically, records detailing compliance with measures to prevent cross-contamination from equipment used in multiple poultry houses were missing.

The FDA acknowledged