Waffle House was named by the U.S. Food & Drug Administration as a customer of the Indiana supplier that voluntarily recalled 206 million eggs on Friday because of concerns about a possible salmonella contamination.
No other restaurant chain was identified by name, but the list of egg batches under suspicion includes a number of lots that were not sold under a brand name, suggesting they could have gone directly to a user.
The whole eggs were sold by Seymour, Ind.-based Rose Acre Farms, from a farm in Hyde County, N.C. Rose Acre alerted health authorities that the eggs could have reached consumers in Colorado, Florida, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Virginia and West Virginia.
Twenty-two illnesses believed to be caused by the eggs were initially reported, according to the FDA.
Salmonella bacteria can cause such symptoms as diarrhea, vomiting, abdominal pains and fever. The pathogen can be lethal if contracted by young children, the elderly or persons with compromised immune systems.
The situation was the second suspected food contamination to be announced Friday. Earlier, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention issued a statement warning restaurants and grocery stores not to sell chopped romaine lettuce from Yuma, Ariz. Further investigation has revealed that the contaminated lettuce was sold by Fresh Foods Manufacturing of Freedom, Pa., primarily in the form of prepackaged salads retailed in grocery stores. The suspicious salads were sold under the name Great to Go by Market District.
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