Post by Queen of the Damned on Feb 10, 2009 17:14:54 GMT -5
Salmonella Fears Shutter Second Peanut Processing Plant
By Lyndsey Layton
Washington Post Staff Writer
Tuesday, February 10, 2009; 2:42 PM
A second peanut processing plant owned by the company at the heart of a nationwide outbreak of salmonella illness has been shut down after the bacteria were discovered in peanut products there.
Peanut Corporation of America shuttered its Plainview, Texas plant last night at the request of state health officials, said Doug McBride, a spokesman for the Texas Department of State Health Services. The action came after laboratory results from samples taken on Feb. 4 of roasted peanuts, peanut meal and granulated peanuts were positive for salmonella.
Additional analysis is needed to confirm the contamination and determine if it is the same type of salmonella linked to the current outbreak, McBride said.
The bacteria were discovered before the affected granulated peanuts and peanut meal had left the Texas plant but after contaminated roasted peanuts had been shipped out of state, McBride said. Company officials notified the distributor last night and recalled the roasted peanuts, he said.
A spokeswoman of Peanut Corporation of America did not respond to requests for comment.
Texas officials believe none of the contaminated product reached consumers, McBride said. "None of these got to customers as far as we can tell," he said.
The company owns three peanut processing plants, located in Georgia, Texas and Virginia.
The federal investigation of the ongoing salmonella illness, which has killed eight people and sickened 600 others in 44 states, has centered on the Blakely, Georgia plant.
In conference calls with reporters on January, Michael Rogers, the director of field investigations at the Food and Drug Administration, said federal officials were aware of the other two plants but had focused on the Georgia plant.
"Our investigation and those inspections have revealed that those facilities are not linked to any part of this outbreak," Rogers said then, referring to the Texas and Virginia factories. "And at this time there's no information to suggest that any products out of those facilities should be referenced in any recall."
Federal officials said they were not aware that Peanut Corporation of America was operating a peanut processing plant in Texas until after they began investigating the Georgia facility in early January. The Texas plant had been operating since 2005, unknown to state or federal regulators. It was not registered with the state and therefore had never been inspected by health officials, McBride said.
"I forget if we heard about it from the FDA or news reports, but we put two and two together and saw there was a plant in Plainview," McBride said.
The Plainview plant employed about 30 people, McBride said.
State inspectors went to the Plainview plant on Feb. 4 and took samples of peanut products, he said. The company kept half of the samples and sent them to a private laboratory for analysis, while state officials sent the other half to the Texas state laboratory, he said. Yesterday, the company informed the state that its test results were "presumptive for salmonella", McBride said. The state expects results from its laboratory later today, he said.
FDA officials did not immediately return calls for comment about the development.
Federal investigators say Peanut Corporation's Georgia plant knowingly shipped products contaminated with salmonella on at least 12 occasions in 2007 and 2008. The company makes peanut butter for institutions such as nursing homes and schools and it makes peanut ingredients used by other food companies in products ranging from energy bars to candy to dog biscuits. In one of the largest food recalls in U.S. history, the company has recalled all products made with peanuts processed at its Georgia plant since 2007. Among the thousands of customers affected was the U.S. Department of Agriculture, which purchased possibly contaminated peanuts and peanut butter from PCA and served it to thousands of poor children in Idaho, Minnesota and California through the government's free lunch program.
The list of recalled products, which is updated regularly, can be found at www.fda.gov.
The Justice Department has launched a criminal investigation of the company, and its president, Stewart Parnell, has been asked to appear tomorrow at a hearing before the House Committee on Energy and Commerce.
By Lyndsey Layton
Washington Post Staff Writer
Tuesday, February 10, 2009; 2:42 PM
A second peanut processing plant owned by the company at the heart of a nationwide outbreak of salmonella illness has been shut down after the bacteria were discovered in peanut products there.
Peanut Corporation of America shuttered its Plainview, Texas plant last night at the request of state health officials, said Doug McBride, a spokesman for the Texas Department of State Health Services. The action came after laboratory results from samples taken on Feb. 4 of roasted peanuts, peanut meal and granulated peanuts were positive for salmonella.
Additional analysis is needed to confirm the contamination and determine if it is the same type of salmonella linked to the current outbreak, McBride said.
The bacteria were discovered before the affected granulated peanuts and peanut meal had left the Texas plant but after contaminated roasted peanuts had been shipped out of state, McBride said. Company officials notified the distributor last night and recalled the roasted peanuts, he said.
A spokeswoman of Peanut Corporation of America did not respond to requests for comment.
Texas officials believe none of the contaminated product reached consumers, McBride said. "None of these got to customers as far as we can tell," he said.
The company owns three peanut processing plants, located in Georgia, Texas and Virginia.
The federal investigation of the ongoing salmonella illness, which has killed eight people and sickened 600 others in 44 states, has centered on the Blakely, Georgia plant.
In conference calls with reporters on January, Michael Rogers, the director of field investigations at the Food and Drug Administration, said federal officials were aware of the other two plants but had focused on the Georgia plant.
"Our investigation and those inspections have revealed that those facilities are not linked to any part of this outbreak," Rogers said then, referring to the Texas and Virginia factories. "And at this time there's no information to suggest that any products out of those facilities should be referenced in any recall."
Federal officials said they were not aware that Peanut Corporation of America was operating a peanut processing plant in Texas until after they began investigating the Georgia facility in early January. The Texas plant had been operating since 2005, unknown to state or federal regulators. It was not registered with the state and therefore had never been inspected by health officials, McBride said.
"I forget if we heard about it from the FDA or news reports, but we put two and two together and saw there was a plant in Plainview," McBride said.
The Plainview plant employed about 30 people, McBride said.
State inspectors went to the Plainview plant on Feb. 4 and took samples of peanut products, he said. The company kept half of the samples and sent them to a private laboratory for analysis, while state officials sent the other half to the Texas state laboratory, he said. Yesterday, the company informed the state that its test results were "presumptive for salmonella", McBride said. The state expects results from its laboratory later today, he said.
FDA officials did not immediately return calls for comment about the development.
Federal investigators say Peanut Corporation's Georgia plant knowingly shipped products contaminated with salmonella on at least 12 occasions in 2007 and 2008. The company makes peanut butter for institutions such as nursing homes and schools and it makes peanut ingredients used by other food companies in products ranging from energy bars to candy to dog biscuits. In one of the largest food recalls in U.S. history, the company has recalled all products made with peanuts processed at its Georgia plant since 2007. Among the thousands of customers affected was the U.S. Department of Agriculture, which purchased possibly contaminated peanuts and peanut butter from PCA and served it to thousands of poor children in Idaho, Minnesota and California through the government's free lunch program.
The list of recalled products, which is updated regularly, can be found at www.fda.gov.
The Justice Department has launched a criminal investigation of the company, and its president, Stewart Parnell, has been asked to appear tomorrow at a hearing before the House Committee on Energy and Commerce.
