McDonald’s Drops Egg Supplier over Safety Issues (MCD)

McDonald’s Corporation (NYSE:MCD), on Friday, said that it dropped Sparboe Farms, an egg supplier. The Oak Brook, Illinois-based company dropped the supplier after a government agency found filthy conditions and unacceptable rodent activity.

The U.S. FDA issued a warning letter earlier in the week to the owner of Sparboe Farms, saying that agency examined five egg production facilities in Iowa, Minnesota and Colorado and found the federal rule designed to prevent salmonella and protect consumers as being seriously violated.

The FDA said that the eggs at the farms may have been contaminated and could be hazardous to health. The agency also found unacceptable rodent activity at the farm.

McDonald’s Vice President of Sustainability, Bob Langert issued a statement on Friday stating that the company expects all of its suppliers to meet its stringent requirements for delivering high quality food prepared in a humane and responsible manner. Langert further said that based upon recent information, the company has informed its direct supplier, Cargill, that it is no longer accepting eggs from Sparboe. Langert added that the decision is based on McDonald’s and Cargill’s concern regarding the management of Sparboe’s facilities.

Langert assured that the eggs in McDonald’s entire supply chain meet its high standards for quality and safety and the company’s primary commitment is to its customers and it will continue serving safe, high0quality food without disruption.

McDonald’s decision to drop Sparboe was also based on findings of a three-month, three-state investigation of Sparboe’s facilities conducted by animal rights group Mercy For Animals.

The group said that Sparboe hired a worker, who was an undercover investigator for Mercy for Animals. Nathan Runkle, executive director of Mercy For Animals, said that the worker was hired with a pin-hole camera and documented case after case of egregious animal abuse and neglect.

Commenting on the undercover video, McDonald’s Langert said that behavior on tape is disturbing and completely unacceptable.

Post Written By: Ed Liston Ed Liston is a senior contributing editor at TheStockMarketWatch.com. An active market watcher and investor, Ed guides an independent team of experienced analysts and writes for multiple stock trader publications. He is widely quoted in various financial publications on the Internet. When Ed is not writing about stocks, investing in stocks, talking about stocks, or otherwise doing something stock related, he likes to go sailing and fishing in his yacht.