Local Costcos deal with huge egg recall; Notify members who

Mary Ahern woke up Friday "feeling awful," and her condition worsened throughout the day.

The Little Italy neighborhood mother, five months pregnant, had no idea what the problem was until a call came to her home -- at 7 p.m.; an automated message saying she was among Costco customers who'd bought eggs linked to a salmonella outbreak.

By 9 p.m., Ahern, 37, was on her way to Rush University Medical Center, where she was admitted with a case of salmonella illness. A day before, she'd eaten brownie batter made with the last of eggs she'd purchased about a week ago.

"I never would have connected the eggs," said Ahern, an adjunct engineering professor at Northwestern University.

The massive recall, impacting 550 million eggs, hit Costco's Chicago-area stores, as the wholesale warehouse chain on Friday began offering refunds to customers who bought eggs that originated at Hillandale Farms in Iowa, one of two Iowa farms linked to an outbreak of salmonella. It notified about 233,000 customers of about 23 stores in Illinois, Indiana, Wisconsin and Nebraska, said Craig Wilson, Costco's assistant vice president of quality assurance and food safety.

Costco also Monday was recalling eggs in California.

Costco shoppers pay for memberships and provide contact information.

"In this case, I'm happy that Big Brother's watching," said Linda Schilling, who on Monday returned the remaining half of the two dozen eggs she'd bought last month.

Schilling, 63, of Hoffman Estates, left the store with more eggs -- those from Pennsylvania. "That's a long way from Iowa," she said. "I'm not one to stay away from eggs for a while."

And Ahern? Well, she turned down egg dishes while at the hospital.

She went with oatmeal.

IDENTIFYING BAD EGGS

Recalled eggs are identified by combinations of brands, plant numbers and production dates.

Dates and codes are found on the end of the egg carton.

The plant number is the four-digit number following the letter "P." The Julian (production) date is the three-digit number.

Latest eggs affected are:

Brands: Hillandale Farms, Sunny Farms and Sunny Meadow in six-egg cartons, dozen-egg cartons, 18-egg cartons, 30-egg package, and five-dozen cases; and Wholesome Farms and West Creek loose eggs in 15- and 30-dozen tray packs.

Plants and production: P1860 - with Julian (production) numbers ranging from 099 to 230; and P1663 - Julian (production) numbers ranging from 137 to 230.

Source: U.S. Food and Drug Administration

Color Photo: Brian Jackson, Sun-Times / One of the brands from one of two Iowa farms that are part of the nationwide egg recall.