Nearly 19.1 million eggs are covered by a recall that has now reached the FDA’s most serious risk classification, adding another major food safety warning to a growing list involving eggs and Salmonella. According to the FDA recall notice, Midwest Poultry Services recalled 1,589,577 dozen white shell and brown cage-free eggs produced in Texas. That works out to 19,074,924 individual eggs. CBS News reports that the FDA has since upgraded the egg recall to Class I, its highest risk category.
The classification signals a much more serious assessment of the potential danger. According to the FDA’s recall definitions, Class I is reserved for situations where exposure to a recalled product has a reasonable probability of causing serious adverse health consequences or death. The designation does not mean everyone who ate one of the recalled eggs will become seriously ill, but it places the recall in the agency’s most urgent category.
The scale is striking, but this is not the first massive egg recall to make national headlines in recent memory. In June 2025, August Egg Company recalled 1.7 million dozen eggs, or more than 20 million individual eggs, because of possible Salmonella Enteritidis contamination. According to the FDA’s investigation, that outbreak ultimately included 134 reported illnesses across 10 states, 38 hospitalizations, and one death. FDA sampling also found Salmonella that matched the outbreak strain at facilities involved in the investigation.
Another highly publicized egg recall followed just months later. In August 2025, Country Eggs recalled large brown cage-free eggs sold under several names after investigators connected the products to another Salmonella Enteritidis outbreak. According to the FDA’s final investigation update, 105 people in 14 states were reported sick, 19 were hospitalized, and no deaths were reported. Environmental samples collected during the investigation tested positive for Salmonella matching the outbreak strain.
The concerns continued later that year. In September 2025, the FDA issued an alert involving Black Sheep Egg Company after environmental testing at the company’s processing facility found 40 samples positive for Salmonella, including several different strains. The agency said at the time that it did not have information showing the company was the source of an ongoing outbreak, an important distinction from the investigations involving August Egg Company and Country Eggs. Still, the series of warnings made egg recalls a recurring consumer safety issue well before the current 19 million egg recall.
For the Midwest Poultry Services recall, the FDA says the eggs were produced and distributed from Texas farms between June 6 and July 3, 2026. Sell by or best by dates run from July 20 through August 17. Although the final listed date has now passed, consumers may still have cartons stored at home. The recalled products were sold in sizes ranging from six-egg packages to 60-egg cartons and bulk foodservice quantities.
Brands listed by the FDA include Kroger, Simple Truth, Brookshire’s, Country Morning and Cal Maine Sunups. The current egg recall applies to cartons carrying the identifying codes P 1950 or 0840962 along with a Julian date from 157 through 184. According to the CDC, the eggs were shipped to retail and foodservice customers in Texas, Oklahoma, and Louisiana, while consumer distribution also reached stores in Arkansas, Mississippi, and New Mexico.
The recall initially began before health officials publicly tied the products to the larger outbreak investigation. According to the FDA’s July 24 update, Midwest Poultry Services shared third-party testing results with the agency after samples from its Texas farms tested positive for Salmonella. Whole genome sequencing performed by the company’s laboratory showed that some of those samples matched the outbreak strain. The FDA said epidemiological, laboratory and traceback evidence identified the recalled shell eggs as a likely source of illnesses, although investigators cautioned that Midwest Poultry Services does not account for every illness under investigation.
As of the FDA’s July 24 update, the outbreak included 98 reported illnesses across 17 states, 26 hospitalizations and no deaths. Of 44 sick people with detailed food exposure information available, 40 reported eating eggs before becoming ill. The FDA said illnesses began between November 21, 2025, and June 30, 2026. The investigation remained ongoing because officials were still working to determine whether additional sources contributed to the outbreak.
Consumers checking their refrigerators should focus on the carton codes instead of assuming eggs are safe because a date has passed. According to the CDC’s guidance for the egg recall, recalled eggs should not be eaten. They should be thrown away or returned, and any containers, utensils, or surfaces that touched them should be washed with hot, soapy water or cleaned in a dishwasher. If eggs were removed from their original packaging and there is no way to determine whether they are part of the recall, the FDA advises throwing them away.
The CDC says the most common Salmonella symptoms include diarrhea, fever, and stomach cramps. Children younger than 5, adults 65 and older, and people with weakened immune systems face a greater risk of severe illness. The agency advises contacting a healthcare provider promptly for warning signs including bloody diarrhea, diarrhea lasting more than two days without improvement, a fever above 102 degrees, repeated vomiting that prevents someone from keeping liquids down, or signs of dehydration. With nearly 19.1 million eggs involved and the recall now sitting in the FDA’s highest risk category, checking the carton before cracking another egg could matter.
