Peanut blanching plant in Virginia had salmonella risks

— -- A Virginia plant owned by the same company linked to the salmonella outbreak in peanut products was cited last year for inadequate conditions, including mouse droppings in a warehouse, a live bird inside the plant and mold on totes holding peanuts, according to Virginia state inspection records.

The Tidewater Blanching plant in Suffolk, Va., is a subsidiary of Peanut Corp. of America. Its Georgia plant is linked to the outbreak that's sickened 575 people.

At Tidewater, peanuts are blanched to remove red skins before they're shipped to PCA's Georgia plant or to other customers for roasting and further processing, says plant manager Cathy Mullins. Tidewater is not involved in the current outbreak.

Roasting is considered the step during which salmonella should be killed. The PCA plant in Georgia did not verify that its roasting process was done correctly, the Food and Drug Administration says.

The FDA inspected the Virginia plant in January after the outbreak was underway. No objectionable conditions were noted, it says. Earlier inspection findings don't show "critical violations" but do reveal several potential entry points for salmonella and that peanuts were treated "like a commodity and not a food," says Michael Doyle, director of the Center for Food Safety at the University of Georgia.

PCA has another plant in Plainview, Texas. It operated for nearly four years without being licensed, the Associated Press reported.

The Virginia plant was inspected once in 2006, twice in 2007 and twice last year, the records indicate. The reports note gaps in doors large enough for pests, flaking paint over blanching machines, a "brown flaking substance appearing to be fine peanut material" floating down from inside a ridge vent in the roof, 43 mouse droppings on a warehouse floor and a live bird in a warehouse landing on containers of peanuts. Birds and rodents can spread salmonella, Doyle says.

The October 2008 inspection report noted black, green and yellow mold on the outside of 43 containers of peanuts — each 2,000 pounds — as well as on the peanuts. Mullins said the nuts were destined for oil stock, wild game feed or a landfill, the report says.