Georgia Peanut Plant Knowingly Sold Contaminated Products
The Peanut Corp. of America, found salmonella in internal tests 12 times in 2007 and 2008 but sold the products anyway, according to a recent finding by the FDA. Four strains of salmonella have been discovered at their Blakely Georgia plant which has been linked to the salmonella outbreak that has killed eight people and sickened 500 people in 43 states and Canada. Half of the people who have become ill are children.
The peanut butter and peanut butter paste manufactured at this plant are not sold in stores but are sold to other foodmakers to produce nutrition bars, crackers, cookies, cereal, ice cream, candies and dog biscuits. Kellogg and McKee Foods are two of the many manufucturers who have recalled more than 100 products made with these ingredients.
Production at the Georgia plant has been stopped and the Director of the FDA’s Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition, said it appears that the company violated federal law, but he could not say whether the company might face criminal charges.
Major-label peanut butter sold in jars, such as Peter Pan, Jif and Smuckers, is not suspected to be contaminated with salmonella and is considered safe. The FDA posts a daily updated list of recalled products on its website, although it has advised that any product containing peanut butter, such as cookies, crackers, cereal, ice cream, nutrition bars, candies and dog biscuits should not be eaten at the current time until it can be cleared in the ongoing nationwide salmonella outbreak. The recommendation does not apply to name-brand jars of peanut butter available in grocery stores, which have not been implicated in the rash of infections.
Source: FDA, January 28, 2009
Source: WashingtonPost.com, January 28, 2009
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I cant wait to see what will happen here. A “similar” situation was recently exposed in China. 3 of the guilty were sentenced to death, 2 to life in prison, and other harsh penalties were levied.
My prediction is there will not be a single jail sentence for the guilty parties here … perhaps a fine at worst … typical that a US company can kill 8 people and nothing happens.
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