The family of an Iowa egg company will apologize Wednesday to victims of a salmonella outbreak and pledge not to resume selling fresh eggs until their farms are free from disease, according to testimony prepared for a House committee.

"While we always believed we were doing the right thing, it is now very clear that we must do more," said Peter DeCoster, chief operating officer of the Wright County Egg operations, which his father, Jack, owns.

In a 10-page statement obtained by The Des Moines Register, the men point to a feed ingredient purchased from an outside supplier as the likely source of the salmonella contamination. Federal investigators have reported finding salmonella in several areas of the farms in addition to the feed mill.

Peter DeCoster outlined a series of measures the farms are taking to rid the farms of the dangerous bacteria and to prevent future contamination.

A House Energy and Commerce subcommittee is holding a hearing Wednesday on the outbreak, which is blamed for more than 1,600 reported illnesses and resulted in the recall of 550 million eggs. It is the largest known U.S. outbreak of the salmonella strain associated with eggs. The DeCosters' testimony is their first public comments on the outbreak.

Federal and state officials linked illnesses to both the DeCoster operations and a second company, Hillandale Farms of Iowa, that used Wright County Egg hens and feed.

The Food and Drug Administration found numerous unsanitary conditions on the farms, including the presence of mice, a leading source of salmonella in egg farms, and numerous entry points for rodents.

Records showed that the DeCoster egg farms tested positive 73 times in two years for the bacteria strain linked to the illnesses.

Jack DeCoster, who has a long record of violating environmental regulations, immigration laws and worker rights, says in the testimony that he prays "several times each day" for the victims of the outbreak. The men "were horrified to learn that our eggs may have made people sick," he said.

Alluding to his record, DeCoster said his farms grew faster than they could adopt "sophisticated procedures to be sure we met all of the government requirements" but he insisted that the company has made "important strides, and I am proud of our work."

Jack DeCoster has a felony conviction for knowingly hiring illegal immigrants and was once named a "habitual violator" of Iowa environmental laws that barred him from expanding his operations in the state for five years.

Wright County Egg was notified by California officials in early August that salmonella illnesses had been traced to the company's farms but didn't initiate the recall until the FDA requested it, according to testimony. The recall began Aug. 13.

Peter DeCoster disclosed in the statement that subsequent sampling of the farms' eggs turned up positive for salmonella.

He said the farms are destroying flocks that had not been vaccinated against salmonella or were in houses that tested positive for the bacteria.

The farms' new salmonella prevention measures will include hiring outside experts to provide monthly inspections and to prevent rodent problems. Those steps are similar to mandatory measures Jack DeCoster has already been subject to in his home state of Maine, where state officials also forced him to hire an in-house veterinarian.

Wright County Egg also has stopped adding to its feed the bone meal that the DeCosters cite as a likely source of the contamination. FDA officials disclosed last month that the feed ingredient tested positive for salmonella but said that was not the focus of their investigation.

In other testimony, a representative of Hillandale Farms of Iowa said it has terminated its use of a DeCoster-owned farm at Alden and has "redoubled our safety efforts" at Hillandale's West Union farm. No eggs from that farm have tested positive for salmonella, said the Hillandale official, Duane Mangskau.

The committee also is hearing from two women who say they were sickened by the eggs.

Carol Lobato, 77, Littleton, Colo., said she was sickened by a restaurant appetizer made from rattlesnake meat and eggs traced to Wright County Egg.

"The salmonella infection is not over for me. I have lost my stamina. I often experience indigestion and it is difficult for me to enjoy certain foods. I feel tired and require rest during the day," she said in prepared testimony.