In brief: U.S. charges egg company, executives in 2010 outbreak

IOWA CITY, Iowa – An Iowa company and two executives are expected to plead guilty to selling tainted eggs that were responsible for a 2010 salmonella outbreak that sickened thousands and led to an unprecedented recall of 550 million eggs, according to court documents filed Wednesday.

Disgraced egg industry titan Austin “Jack” DeCoster and son Peter DeCoster are charged with introducing adulterated food into interstate commerce, a misdemeanor that carries a maximum sentence of one year in jail. A charging document filed by federal prosecutors alleges that their company, Quality Egg LLC, sold eggs tainted with salmonella from early 2010 until the August 2010 recall and that the DeCosters were the responsible corporate officers.

The DeCosters are scheduled to plead guilty June 3 as part of plea agreements expected to resolve the four-year investigation; it’s unclear whether prosecutors will recommend jail.

Two felonies also were filed against Quality Egg, which includes the DeCosters’ former network of chicken farms and egg production sites in northern Iowa.

The company is charged with introducing misbranded food into interstate commerce by selling products with labels that “made the eggs appear to be not as old as they actually were” from 2006 to 2010. It also is charged with paying bribes to influence a U.S. Department of Agriculture inspector to approve eggs that had been retained for failing to meet federal standards. The company also is expected to plead guilty.

PetSmart to stop selling treats made in China

NEW YORK – PetSmart said it will join rival Petco and stop selling dog and cat treats made in China because of ongoing fears that the treats are making pets sick.

Investigators at the U.S. Food and Drug Administration haven’t been able to prove that treats made in China are making pets ill. But since 2007, the agency has received more than 4,800 complaints of pet illnesses and more than 1,000 reports of dog deaths after eating Chinese-made chicken, duck or sweet potato jerky treats.

PetSmart Inc., which runs more than 1,300 stores, plans to have the treats off of its shelves by March 2015.

Spokeswoman Michelle Friedman said Wednesday that the “vast majority” of treats sold in its stores are not made in China.

Target earnings take another hit from breach

NEW YORK – Target cut its annual profit outlook Wednesday and said its first-quarter earnings fell 16 percent as it took another hit from a massive customer data breach and a troubled expansion in Canada.

The third-largest U.S. retailer, based in Minneapolis, also issued a second-quarter profit projection below analysts’ expectations.

Target also said it doesn’t expect its six straight quarters of traffic declines to reverse this year in what analysts say is the most tumultuous time in its history.

Still, there are some encouraging signs. A key revenue metric improved after tumbling shortly after the data breach.