FDA Report Finds Georgia Peanut Plant Identified Salmonella in Products
EmailABC News’ Lisa Stark reports: The FDA today said internal records from the Peanut Corporation of America’s facility in Blakely, Georgia show that there were 12 instances in 2007 and 2008 where the firm, as part of its own testing, identified some type of salmonella in finished product, starting material, or material being processed. The firm then sought out an outside lab to test the product — and if those tests came out negative, the company then shipped out the peanut product, despite the company’s positive salmonella test. The FDA’s Michael Rogers says this clearly violates good manufacturing practices. The FDA’s Stephen Sundlof added, "This was a practice the firm should not have engaged in. We rely on those companies to have in place quality systems that ensure the safety of food." Where were the regulations? It was up to the state of Georgia to inspect the plant, under contract of the FDA. They never found salmonella and apparently there is NO requirement for the plant to turn over internal tests or tell regulators about them. The FDA has completed its inspection of the plant and will post its inspection report online tomorrow. They promise interesting reading. Also, the FDA did find two strains of salmonella when it went to the plant this month — (not the strain causing the illness) –and state health officials have now found another unopened container of King Nut peanut butter from the plant with a fourth strain of salmonella. These strains have not led to any illnesses that the CDC knows of. Finally, the FDA says it cannot say whether the company’s testing turned up the salmonella strain that has now made so many people ill because the company’s testing didn’t drill down enough to identify exact strains. According to the CDC, the peanut butter salmonella outbreak has caused 501 illnesses in 43 states and 1 from Canada, as well as 8 deaths.
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Policing ourselves is taking a hit this week.
Posted by: Mavsreader | January 27, 2009, 6:08 pm 6:08 pm
If this is true it is a malicious disregard to public health. If they found the salmonella they should have reported it or tried to find the source and altered the manufacturing practice until there was no salmonella. I am not sure how they expected the salmonella to disappear. Is the FDA not supposed to be monitoring and regulating the peanut facility or was it not informed or had no surveillance.
Posted by: gjkotw01 | January 27, 2009, 6:09 pm 6:09 pm
If this was China – the heads of the company would be on death row …
Posted by: Gauston in DC | January 27, 2009, 6:26 pm 6:26 pm
There should be an Anti-Good Samaritan law…A Bad Samaritan law, if you will. One that allows for punishment of companies and individuals if there actions were performed in bad faith.
Posted by: Ridiculous | January 27, 2009, 6:42 pm 6:42 pm
If I were a family member of one of those poor souls who lost their lives from eating peanut butter, I would sue this company for every penny they have. Imagine killing your child with a sandwich you placed in front of them!! When we purchase food from reliable sources, especially American sources, we have the right to expect that the food will be wholesome. The staff who were aware of their products’ positive salmonella tests should be tried for manslaughter. My heart goes out to the families of those trusting souls who died for the most ridiculous of reasons.
Posted by: Catherine Cumming | January 27, 2009, 6:50 pm 6:50 pm
I hope the people that have lost loved ones due to this companies POOR business tactics sue them for everything they can get from them. In the mean time this company should be shut down indefinately…..
Posted by: SideSwipe08 | January 27, 2009, 7:07 pm 7:07 pm
Gauston id DC. In China the justice is swift and to some extent cruel but yes heads would have rolled within a week of the guilty verdict. The don’t leave their convicted criminals on death row for a very long time. It was last year or the year before that they put away the head of the architect of China’s FDA in just a week after they found him guilty of taking gifts and bribes from the pharma companies. Last week they found the culprits of melamine adulterers of baby milk, guilty and I will not be surprised if they are no more by the end of this or next week.
Posted by: gjkotw01 | January 27, 2009, 9:01 pm 9:01 pm
I’d love to see the lab that was paid off
for retesting brought to justice. I bet
billybob, the owner, had his nephew go in the
back shed to do the retesting.
Posted by: spacerook1 | January 27, 2009, 11:17 pm 11:17 pm
It’s all about cost-saving measures so that Wal-mart can sell cookies for $1.97.
Posted by: tailbone | January 27, 2009, 11:27 pm 11:27 pm
Shut ‘em down. Permanently. Simple as that.
Posted by: mike | January 27, 2009, 11:45 pm 11:45 pm
This is what happens when you outsource personal responsibility to corporations. Just another story to be attributed to failed Reagan policies. The only thing that trickles down is poison…
Posted by: echo | January 27, 2009, 11:49 pm 11:49 pm
you have to be kidding!! why is this company still in business?? this is why more regulation is needed in the food industry.
Posted by: blondie615 | January 28, 2009, 1:43 am 1:43 am
The moral bankruptcy here almost defies belief. I feed these products to my son, believing them to be safe. We need to start talking about total asset seizure and life imprisonment terms for all company executives and associated regulators. We need to make examples of these criminals to ensure the safety of our food supply.
Posted by: Mike from Detroit | January 28, 2009, 1:46 am 1:46 am
I’m concerned that they will outsource their plants and the FDA wouldn’t be able to track down future outbreaks and deaths.
Posted by: t42 | January 28, 2009, 2:02 am 2:02 am
Sounds to like their hiding behind the negative test report. I wonder how many companies they had to sent the tests to before they got a negative report? how convenient. Want to hurt them, boycott peanut butter products period……..
reality check
Posted by: reality check | January 28, 2009, 12:10 pm 12:10 pm
The FDA didn’t tell how the internal plant testing is conducted using pathogen screening tests. These screening test are designed to detect a large range of enzimes that could be associated with whatever pathogen being tested for. Having a certified laboratory conduct analysis to confirm a screening test is an accepted practice within the food industry. Screening tests are used to reduce laboratory costs which have become a burden on most smaller companies.
Posted by: Matt from Tnn | January 28, 2009, 1:01 pm 1:01 pm
Who eats the most peanut butter in our country? OUR CHILDREN THAT’S WHO!!!
I think the plant should be shut down and all of the managers fed their rotten peanut butter for the rest of their lives. No matter how short it is.
Posted by: C. Perry | January 28, 2009, 2:41 pm 2:41 pm
Ensuring food safety is a really really difficult task. Even if you take the most stringent precautions, new hazards may pop up from very unexpected sources. The source(s) of this contamination is not clear. I seriously doubt that it is something that can be guessed very easily. I do not think the source of contamination is one of the typical sources of Salmonella such as manure that comes in contact with the food at the farm. Most food companies have food safety systems in place such as HACCP (Hazard Analysis Critical Control Points). Common hazards are tackled by this system before even causing a problem.
The bottomline is that it is impossible to guarantee food safety 100%. Someone suggested that the people responsible should be given death sentence as in China which I disagree. Death sentence shoudl be reserved for situations where human life is put in danger intentionally.
Posted by: Leyla | January 28, 2009, 3:58 pm 3:58 pm
We all remember that how we criticized China last year for the milk incident. Now, let’s see the same standard to be applied to ourselves, and have heads rolling.
Posted by: Mike | January 28, 2009, 7:25 pm 7:25 pm
I used to work in the peanut business, its never been neat and clean and regulated like u think it was;
Posted by: John | January 30, 2009, 1:52 pm 1:52 pm
The next thing you will here is that they have lost so much money due to the loss of their peanut butter, that they need some of that bailout money to make ends meet!
Posted by: Jim | January 30, 2009, 8:46 pm 8:46 pm
We must take food safety as seriously as other threats such as terrorism. Whether it is a processed food or fresh one, we need to put stringent safety measures in place to protect the public safety.
We can’t simply think that safety is only concerned with food imported from third world countries. Food safety can be comprised right in US where greedy corporations with slack food safety protocols.
Posted by: Bhasker | February 2, 2009, 11:01 am 11:01 am
I wonder if the fda will inspect how aflotoxin testing is performed? and explain how low levels of it are acceptable in peanut butter products that our familys and children consume; fyi- aflotoxin causes cancer and is another carcinigen found in peanuts;
Posted by: david | February 2, 2009, 4:48 pm 4:48 pm
INTERESTING READING
The president of the peanut company linked to a nationwide salmonella outbreak serves on an industry advisory board that helps the U.S. Department of Agriculture set quality standards for peanuts.
Stewart Parnell, president of Peanut Corp. of America, based in Lynchburg, Va., was first appointed to the USDA’s Peanut Standards Board in July 2005 and was reappointed in October for a second term that runs until June 2011, according to the USDA.
The all-volunteer board isn’t directly involved with food-safety issues. Its main duties are to advise the USDA on how to grade and classify peanuts after they come out of the field —- setting the sizes for jumbo vs. medium peanuts, for instance, or standards on how much moisture they should contain before they’re allowed on store shelves.
Posted by: david | February 2, 2009, 8:07 pm 8:07 pm
WASHINGTON — A peanut processing plant in Texas run by the same company blamed for a national salmonella outbreak operated for years uninspected and unlicensed by government health officials, The Associated Press has learned.
The Peanut Corp. of America plant in Plainview never was inspected until after the company fell under investigation by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, according to Texas health records obtained by AP.
Posted by: david | February 3, 2009, 9:24 am 9:24 am
where profits rule! america has an epidemic of stupidity, greed and moral lassitude..
Posted by: Peter K | February 11, 2009, 8:01 am 8:01 am