Peanut plant's practices not 'rampant'
— -- The Georgia peanut plant blamed for a massive food-safety recall engaged in a practice that is "universally condemned" when it shipped products with contradictory test results for salmonella, a Food and Drug Administration official told Congress Thursday.
The plant, owned by Peanut Corp. of America, shipped products 12 times in 2007 and 2008 that tested positive for salmonella, then negative on a retest, the FDA says.
Retesting and shipping food after a positive result is not a "problem that's rampant across the industry," Stephen Sundlof, director of the FDA's Center for Food Safety & Applied Nutrition, said at a Senate Agriculture Committee hearing. What PCA did is "universally condemned," he added.
Federal law does not require companies to report such test results routinely to the FDA. Lawmakers said that's one of several gaps in food safety that needs to be closed. "I'd like to see some people go to jail," said Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt.
More than 575 people have been sickened, and the outbreak may have led to eight deaths.
The recall, one of the largest ever, has engulfed 1,300 products. Kellogg, which recalled several snack products, said Thursday that it expects the recall to cost it $65 million to $70 million.
Charles Deibel, president of Deibel Laboratories, agreed with Sundlof. "The vast majority of clients would send (such product) to a landfill," he said in an interview. Deibel Laboratories did some testing for PCA, and Deibel is expected to testify at another congressional hearing next week. JLA USA also did testing for PCA. It has said that its testing netted positive and negative results.
Private labs that test food products for companies are not required to report results to the FDA. That data are considered the property of the company paying for the test.
Lawmakers said the USA's food-safety system needs stronger laws and more inspections. "Food safety in America has too often become a hit-or-miss gamble, and that is truly frightening," said Sen. Tom Harkin, D-Iowa.
