FDA Advises Consumers, Retailers, and Distributors Not to Eat, Sell, or Serve Recalled Black Sheep Egg Company Eggs
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has warned consumers, retailers, and distributors to stop eating, selling, or serving certain cartons of eggs produced by Black Sheep Egg Company after testing found evidence of Salmonella contamination. The advisory covers 12- and 18-count cartons of Black Sheep Egg Company brand Free Range Large Grade A Brown Eggs with Best By dates from August 22 through October 31, 2025, and UPCs 860010568507 and 860010568538. The eggs were distributed in Arkansas and Missouri and may have been repackaged and sold under other brand names, increasing the risk that affected products remain in circulation. The FDA says additional products may be added to the advisory as the investigation continues.
Inside the FDA’s Warning
The FDA notice states that Black Sheep Egg Company initiated a recall for its 12- and 18-count cartons of Free Range Large Grade A Brown Eggs after federal testing found Salmonella in environmental samples at the company’s facility. The FDA urges anyone who purchased these eggs not to eat them and to either return them to the place of purchase for a refund or discard them safely. Retailers and distributors are asked to remove recalled products from inventory and block products from sale.
Federal inspectors reportedly found dozens of positive environmental samples for Salmonella at the Black Sheep Egg facility, including multiple strains, which raises concern about persistent contamination in processing areas. The FDA typically issues advisories like this both to alert consumers and to help downstream businesses locate and remove suspect products quickly. Consumers who are unsure whether their eggs are affected, for example, if eggs were taken out of the original carton, are advised to err on the side of caution and discard them.
Why Eggs Often Cause Salmonella Infections
Salmonella bacteria are a leading cause of foodborne illness worldwide. Eggs are a common vehicle for Salmonella enterica infections for several reasons. First, certain Salmonella strains can colonize the reproductive tract of hens, allowing bacteria to be present inside otherwise intact shells before the egg is even laid. Second, eggs are handled and aggregated in packing and processing facilities; broken shells, contaminated equipment, or infected workers can transfer bacteria to otherwise safe eggs or to the packaging environment. Third, many egg dishes involve raw or lightly cooked eggs, think homemade mayonnaise, Caesar dressings, tiramisu, and some custards, which offer no heat step to kill bacteria. Finally, commercial repackaging or redistribution can spread contaminated lots to many retailers and institutions, amplifying the public-health risk.
The CDC emphasizes prevention with a core message that applies directly to eggs: “Salmonella bacteria (germs) are a leading cause of foodborne illness in the United States.” That short statement highlights two critical facts for readers. First, Salmonella is common, not exotic, and it is responsible for a substantial share of foodborne illness reported every year. Second, because the bacterium is widespread across animals and food chains, vigilance in handling, cooking, and storage matters for everyday foods such as eggs. The CDC’s broader guidance, clean, separate, cook, and chill, maps directly onto everyday egg safety: wash hands and surfaces, keep raw eggs and their juices from touching other foods, cook eggs to a safe temperature, and refrigerate promptly.
How Salmonella Infection Behaves and Who is Most at Risk
Symptoms of salmonellosis typically appear 12 to 72 hours after ingesting contaminated food and include diarrhea, fever, and abdominal cramps. Most healthy adults recover within four to seven days without specific treatment, but some infections can be severe and require hospitalization. In rare cases, Salmonella can enter the bloodstream and cause more serious illness and death, particularly in young children, older adults, and people with weakened immune systems. The CDC advises anyone with severe symptoms, or symptoms that do not improve, to seek medical care. Pregnant people also need to take extra care because some infections can compromise pregnancy outcomes.
Because eggs are widespread in household and institutional food preparation, recall notices for eggs are taken seriously. Facilities that serve high-risk populations, hospitals, nursing homes, childcare centers, must be especially cautious and remove impacted products immediately. The FDA advisory explicitly calls on retailers and distributors to stop selling and serving the recalled eggs to prevent exposure to vulnerable customers.
Other Recent Egg and Salmonella Recalls
This Black Sheep Egg Company advisory is not an isolated event. The FDA and CDC have investigated multiple egg-related salmonella incidents in 2024 and 2025. For example, in August 2025 Country Eggs, LLC recalled large brown cage-free eggs after an investigation linked illnesses to their products; the CDC posted guidance telling consumers and businesses to avoid the recalled cartons while the investigation continued. Earlier in the year, other egg recalls and outbreaks led to targeted removals of product from retail shelves and foodservice operations. These recurring incidents reflect the complex supply chains for poultry products and the ongoing risk posed by Salmonella in eggs.
Beyond eggs, Salmonella recalls have touched a wide range of products in recent years including nut butters, fresh produce, and ready-to-eat foods when contamination enters processing environments. The pattern is familiar: once Salmonella takes hold in an environment, it can persist on equipment, packaging lines, and storage areas and repeatedly contaminate products until cleaning, redesign, or deeper corrective actions remove the reservoir. That is why regulators emphasize both product recalls and facility remediation when contamination is discovered.
What to Do If You Bought Recalled Eggs
If you purchased Black Sheep Egg Company cartons matching the UPC and Best By dates in the FDA advisory, do not eat the eggs. The FDA recommends discarding them in a sealed bag or returning them to the place of purchase for a refund. Clean and sanitize any surfaces or containers that came into contact with the eggs, including refrigerator shelves, countertops, and egg holders. If the eggs were used to prepare other foods, discard those foods as well if they potentially contained raw egg. For thorough home sanitation, washing surfaces with hot soapy water and then sanitizing with a diluted bleach solution is a practical approach.
As always for suspected foodborne illness, anyone who becomes ill after eating recalled products should seek medical care and inform providers of the potential exposure. Public health authorities ask clinicians to report confirmed cases so local and national agencies can assess whether there is an outbreak and trace its source. Prompt reporting improves the ability of investigators to link cases and take action.
Retailers, Distributors, and Foodservice Responsibilities
Retailers and distributors who received Black Sheep Eggs must immediately remove the recalled cartons from sale and inventory, quarantine any suspect product, and notify downstream customers. Foodservice operations should pull the product from their kitchens and check invoices and delivery records to determine whether eggs from the implicated lot were used in prepared foods. If so, those prepared foods should be discarded or held for testing as directed by health officials. Retailers and institutions should also coordinate with state and local health departments and the FDA for guidance on disposal and documentation. The FDA advisory and company recall are designed to prompt this immediate action and to prevent further distribution or sale of potentially contaminated eggs.
The advisory noted that Black Sheep Egg Company supplied other companies in Arkansas and Missouri that may have repackaged the eggs. That complicates tracing because repackaged products may carry different brand labels and sell in different retail chains. Businesses that repack or relabel eggs must review supplier invoices and lot codes to identify any product traceable to the recalled UPCs and date ranges. Failing to remove impacted lots from sale could expose customers and lead to enforcement actions.
Why Environmental Positives Matter: Contamination Versus Finished Product
An important nuance in the FDA advisory is that contamination was detected in environmental samples at the Black Sheep facility rather than necessarily in finished cartons pulled from retailers. Environmental positives indicate that Salmonella was present in the production environment, on equipment, surfaces, or in places where eggs are processed. Environmental contamination can be the precursor to product contamination. When an environment yields multiple positive samples or multiple strains, regulators worry about persistent niches where bacteria survive cleaning and recontaminate products over time. That pattern requires in-depth corrective actions: facility deep cleaning, process redesign, staff retraining, and sometimes temporary closure until the source is eliminated.
The difference matters for consumers because environmental positives may not always mean every carton is contaminated. Nonetheless, the risk that any given carton from an exposed line could contain Salmonella is sufficient to justify a recall or advisory, especially when eggs are widely used in foods that are not fully cooked. The precautionary principle is applied because of the potential for severe illness in high-risk groups.
The Broader Regulatory Context
Food safety regulators in the U.S. approach egg safety with a mix of on-farm controls, processing standards, and inspection. The FDA and state agencies oversee shell egg producers under the Egg Safety Rule and other frameworks intended to reduce Salmonella risk, including biosecurity at farms and sanitation at processing facilities. Yet outbreaks and recalls continue to occur when bacteria enter complex operations or when control measures fail. The FDA advisory about Black Sheep eggs follows this standard playbook: test, detect, notify, recall, and remediate. The agency also uses these events to reassess whether surveillance, testing frequency, or policy change is needed.
Internationally, egg safety is handled by a patchwork of national rules. When contamination affects multiple states or involves product import/export, coordination among national and international agencies is essential. The Black Sheep matter appears domestically contained to two states so far, but its signal is part of a longer series of egg and poultry safety challenges seen worldwide. Regulators monitor pattern-level trends to determine whether systemic changes, for example, enhanced environmental testing or mandatory control-sample retention by institutional kitchens, might reduce future risks.
Recent PatternS: Why Recalls Keep Happening
Several interconnected factors help explain why Salmonella recalls continue to occur in eggs and other foods. First, modern supply chains move product quickly and at scale; when contamination occurs in a central packing or processing site, many downstream outlets can receive affected product in days. Second, environmental persistence of Salmonella in wet or biofilm-prone areas allows bacteria to survive typical cleaning unless procedures are rigorous and validated. Third, consumer trends that emphasize minimally processed or free-range products sometimes complicate strict biosecurity measures on farms. Fourth, limited retention of samples from prepared meals makes outbreak confirmation harder once illnesses occur. All of these dynamics increase the chance that contaminated products reach consumers before the problem is discovered.
How to Reduce Personal and Institutional Risk
For individuals at home, the core CDC protections remain: clean, separate, cook, and chill. Wash hands, utensils, and surfaces after handling raw eggs. Keep eggs refrigerated at or below 40°F. Cook eggs until both whites and yolks are firm, and cook dishes containing eggs to 160°F when possible. Avoid recipes that call for raw or undercooked egg unless pasteurized products are used. If you have the recalled product, discard it safely.
Institutions and foodservice operations should strengthen supplier verification, require documentation that eggs come from producers with strict microbial monitoring (USDA), and consider temporarily avoiding raw egg dishes or using pasteurized egg products for high-risk populations. Keeping control samples of prepared meals for a short, defined window can dramatically help outbreak investigations and reduce the time needed to identify contaminated lots.
Analysis & Next Steps
What’s new: The FDA advisory and Black Sheep Egg Company recall identify 12- and 18-count cartons of Free Range Large Grade A Brown Eggs with Best By dates from 8/22/2025 through 10/31/2025 as potentially contaminated with Salmonella. Federal inspectors found multiple environmental positives at the processing facility, and the product was distributed in Arkansas and Missouri, with possible repackaging by other companies.
Why it matters: Eggs are a common vehicle for Salmonella and are often used in dishes that may not be cooked thoroughly. Environmental contamination at a processing plant increases the chance that finished cartons could carry the pathogen. Given that young children, older adults, pregnant people, and immunocompromised individuals face higher risk of severe illness, any potential exposure in households, restaurants, or institutional kitchens must be swiftly contained. The advisory prevents further distribution and prompts remediation of the facility where contamination was found.
Who’s affected: Consumers who purchased the specific UPCs and Best By dates, especially in Arkansas and Missouri, are the immediate group at risk. Retailers, distributors, and foodservice operators that stocked the product must remove and quarantine inventory. Vulnerable groups who consume undercooked eggs or foods containing raw egg are at elevated risk and should avoid the recalled product entirely. Health care providers and public health labs are affected as they handle potential clinical cases and testing.
What to do now:
- Consumers: Check egg cartons for the UPCs and Best By dates specified in the FDA advisory; do not eat eggs that match. Discard them in a sealed bag or return them to the point of purchase. Clean and sanitize any surfaces that came into contact with the eggs. Seek medical care if you develop symptoms consistent with salmonellosis.
- Retailers and distributors: Immediately remove recalled products from sale, quarantine inventory, and notify customers and downstream partners. Cooperate with FDA and state inspections and follow instructions for disposal or return.
- Foodservice and institutional kitchens: Halt use of the recalled eggs and consider using pasteurized egg products for high-risk populations until the supply chain risk is resolved. Maintain meticulous cleaning records and retain control portions of prepared items for a limited time to support outbreak investigations.
- Public health authorities: Accelerate traceback and, if needed, coordinate broader recalls. Ensure testing and remediation at the processing facility are thorough and validate that corrective actions eliminate environmental contamination before allowing resumed distribution. Communicate clearly and promptly with the public to reduce confusion and maintain trust.
Final Note
Eggs are a pantry staple, but they are also a recognized source of foodborne illness when Salmonella enters the farm or processing environment. The FDA advisory on Black Sheep Egg Company eggs is a routine but important public-health step to remove potentially contaminated products from circulation and to protect consumers, especially those at high risk for severe illness. Following the FDA’s guidance, practicing basic food safety at home, and expecting quick and transparent action from retailers and regulators will reduce the chance of illness. The pattern of recent recalls underscores the need for stronger environmental controls in processing facilities, better traceability and record keeping across supply chains, and conservative choices in institutions that serve vulnerable populations.
