NEW YORK (Bloomberg) — US regulators ordered Kellogg Co. to fix sanitation violations at its Atlanta plant after the contamination of Eggo buttermilk waffles with Listeria bacteria.

Inspectors found Kellogg employees cleaning equipment with high-pressure water that splashed near raw ingredients, the Food and Drug Administration said in a letter posted on its website yesterday. Inspectors also saw a cart with uncovered trash within six inches of raw materials, and an employee touching his nose and moustache and then failing to re-wash or use sanitizer on his hands before returning to work. The letter, dated January 27, gave Kellogg, the largest US breakfast-cereal maker, 15 days to outline specific remedies to avoid injunction or product seizure.

The government inspection took place in October, after the Georgia Department of Agriculture said two months earlier it found Listeria in some Eggo buttermilk waffles.

Kellogg didn't have an immediate comment, Kris Charles, a spokeswoman for the Battle Creek, Michigan-based company, said yesterday by e-mail.

September flooding in the southeastern US caused the temporary shutdown of the Atlanta waffle factory. Equipment changes at its Rossville, Tennessee, factory, where Kellogg makes half of the waffles sold in the US, slowed production in the second half of 2009 and may cause shortages in grocery stores at least through June.