Austin "Jack" DeCoster

Austin "Jack" DeCoster owns or has ties to many egg operations in the United States, making him one of the largest players (if not the largest) in the egg industry. In 2010, two operations linked to him, Hillandale Farms and Wright County Egg (which are both supplied with chicks and feed by Quality Egg), resulted in the recall of nearly half a billion eggs. It was, at the time, the largest egg recall in U.S. history. Wright County Egg and Quality Egg are owned by DeCoster. DeCoster has a long history of environmental, food safety, and animal welfare legal violations.

SourceWatch resources

• 2010 Outbreak of Salmonella in Eggs
• Salmonella
• Foodborne Illness
• Food Rights Network

External Resources

• Backgrounder on Various Crimes of Jack DeCoster, Mercy for Animals.
• 483 Forms for Wright County Egg and Hillandale Farms, U.S. FDA.

External Articles

• Tom Philpott, "It’s official: Jack DeCoster rules the U.S. egg roost," Grist, September 17, 2010.
• Jill Richardson, "Aha! Got It! Dirty Details About the Egg Operations That Sold the Tainted Eggs!!!," La Vida Locavore, August 30, 2010.
• Bill Marler, "Wright County Egg's First ever 483 Inspection Report - It is not too Pretty," Marler Blog, August 30, 2010.
• Jill Richardson, "Eggs, and That Slimy Criminal DeCoster ," La Vida Locavore, August 30, 2010.
• Jill Richardson, "More on DeCoster's Filthy Past," La Vida Locavore, August 26, 2010.
• Jill Richardson, "Out of Control Egg Producer Flouts Regulations: Consumers Deal with 500 Million Salmonella-Tainted Eggs," AlterNet, August 25, 2010.
• "Largest Egg Recall in US History Brings Renewed Attention to Dangers of Industrial Farming," Democracy Now, August 24, 2010.
• Bill Marler, "Chickens and Chicken Feed link Quality Egg to Wright County Egg and Hillandale Salmonella Outbreak," Marler Blog, August 22, 2010.
• Tom Philpott, "A ‘habitual offender’ unleashes nearly half a billion salmonella-tainted eggs," Grist, August 19, 2010.