Peanut Plant Dramatically Expands Recall

All Products Dating Back To Jan. 2007 Recalled; Feds Found Mold, Roaches, Leaking Roof

(CBS/AP)  The salmonella outbreak spawned one of the largest ever product recalls Wednesday by a Georgia peanut plant where federal inspectors reported finding roaches, mold, a leaking roof and other sanitary problems.

Managers at the Blakely, Ga. plant owned by Peanut Corp. of America continued shipping peanut products even after they were found to contain salmonella.

Peanut Corp. expanded its recall Wednesday to all peanut products produced at the plant since Jan. 1, 2007. The company is relatively small, but its peanut paste is an ingredient in hundreds of other food products, from ice cream, to Asian-style sauces, to dog biscuits.

More than 500 people have gotten sick in the outbreak and at least eight may have died as a result of salmonella infection. More than 400 products have already been recalled. The plant has stopped all production.

One salmonella patient was 7-year-old Christopher Meunier from Burlington, Vermont. Speaking to CBS' The Early Show Thursday, the boy's father expressed outrage at the peanut company's actions.

"I think it's unconscionable, Daryl Meunier told The Early Show. "They have a duty to protect the public. They're providing goods to the public, and they need to be accountable for those goods. I don't know what they were thinking. I just don't understand it."

Christopher developed two infections stemming from the salmonella virus and had a 103 degree fever for a time. In all, he was sickened for nine days before starting to recover.

Meunier said he'd "like to see the government somehow claim a larger role in the testing of these goods and enforcing" safer standards.

A senior lawmaker in Congress and Georgia's agriculture commissioner called for a criminal investigation of the company, but the Food and Drug Administration said such a step is premature while its own food safety investigation continues.

More than 500 people have gotten sick in the outbreak and at least eight may have died as a result of salmonella infection. More than 400 products have already been recalled. The plant has stopped all production.

"We feel very confident that it's one of the largest recalls we've had," said Stephen Sundlof, head of the FDA's food safety center. "We're still in the process of identifying products, but it certainly is among the largest."

The latest recall covers peanut butter, peanut paste, peanut meal and granulated products, as well as all peanuts - dry and oil roasted - shipped from the factory.

Salmonella had been found previously at least 12 times in products made at the plant, but production lines were never cleaned up after internal tests indicated contamination, FDA inspectors said in a report. Products that initially tested positive were retested. When the company got a negative reading, it went ahead and shipped out the product.

That happened as recently as September. A month later, health officials started picking up signals of the salmonella outbreak.

[cyinzl8r]

Even if the peanuts were tainted with bacteria, the cooking process where the peanuts are put into product should kill it. These other plants are just as guilty for not processing the peanuts properly. That''s why the FDA is not taking action against the peanut supplier. IT should not have happened with proper cooking. The peanuts probably are always contaminated.

[pepperwood2]

Didn''t Demodump Georgia Jimmy Carter make his fortune exporting peanuts. They were tainted even then. Pretty Slick Trick ..Jimmy

[bacyr]

The reason I went on CBS website this morning was to see the peanut butter recall list. Is it there? I saw several articles reporting about it--but no link to the list.

[pepperwood2]

Isn''t there so way they can export this stuff, if they haven''t already? We''re always importing childs''s toys painted with lead based paint. Dog food that poisons are animals. Defective auto & computer parts. Meat with bacterial strains. The least we can do is return the favor. So Sad!

[jetranger7]

Ultimately the Plant Manager and the Plant Supervisor and maybe the CEO of this Company who are totally responsible should be brought up on Serious Charges, and sent to prision for no less than 15 years without parole, 25 years would be even better, and this Company Fined to the tune of $550- Million Dollars !!!

[kansas1946]

Meunier said he''d "like to see the government somehow claim a larger role in the testing of these goods and enforcing" safer standards.

***************************

Oh, really? Well he might want to send a littl thank you note to ex-president Bush. Bush gutted the FDA, took away their teeth, cut their funding, so thank him for the sick and dead.

[pwvstch]

off topic
republicans terrorist?
what about the liberal pigs that want to control the population by legalizing abortion?!

[pwvstch]

putting them to death is too easy. make them eat the peanut butter products.

[erasmus606]

No one has been sick in Canada yet. But the other day they pulled some protein bars off the shelf to check them, just to be on the safe side. They contained some peanut "paste" in them.

[newsjunky5]

"its worth knowning that FDA funding has grown every year under Bush "
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Nobody''s complaining about the FDA not having enough money. But plenty have complained about it''s revolving door policy, that is, what the industry captains brought in to run it have done with that money. It certainly wasn''t used to hold any food producers to standards. We''ve seen evidence of that, as well as complaints. There has been talk on the Hill about laws to make the FDA do it''s job, but it''s probably unecessary now that we''re under new management.

[newsjunky5]

"TESTING LABS SHOULD BE REQUIRED TO REPORT RESULTS DIRECTLY TO THE REGULATORS."
----------------------
That works if salmonella usually grows in peanuts,(maybe it does, I don''t know) then you would look for it. But in this case it was a leaky roof and unclean practices, easily spotted if real and regular inspections took place. Many different types of contamination could have happened from the roof, but a different test would be required to spot each different problem. You usually have to suspect a problem before you can choose a test to use.

[jimmyc1955]

While you people continue to scratch your Bush compulsions maybe its worth knowning that FDA funding has grown every year under Bush - some years dramatically. Just one site for your information

http://www.hhs.gov/budget/05budget/fda.html

[rrozsa-2009]

Sorry -- I didn''t specify what I was referring to -- Tian Wenhua is the Chinese CEO prosecuted for her role in the tainted milk crisis....

[rrozsa-2009]

I just Googled it -- Tian Wenhua, the CEO, has been sentenced to life in prison. She had set up a team to investigate the problem in mid-May but did not issue a report till Aug. 2. I''m not sure the two situations are really comparable.

[rrozsa-2009]

Under Bush, the FDA had an almost handsoff approach to food and drug violations unless there were over 5 deaths for a given product or it went on the media.
--Posted by harbinger09 at 12:59 PM : Jan 29, 2009
=================

Can you please refer me to a link to back up this statement? If that''s really true, I would like to know about it.

[rrozsa-2009]

Shame on this company. Shame on Rethuglican pukes for lack of regulation and requirment for more inspections.
Who needs a terrorist when you have republicans?

---------------------Posted by mainedoggie at 10:51 AM : Jan 29, 2009
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Assuming you''re not just a poser troll... What decrease in regulations and inspections from 2000-2006 are you referring to?

[dsjones26]

It is high time we just don''t hand slap these mangers, but the people need to rise up, grab these people out of their nice warm beds in the middle of the night and string them up. How dare they even be called Americans. Tar & Feathering is too good for these crooks. 12 Gauge sounds about right don''t you think

[ilu2sweety]

Heads should roll at this peanut plant. If news reports of additional problems at that facility (such as roaches and mice droppings) are true, then inspectors heads should also roll. There is no reason in this day and age, to prepare food products under these conditions. Yuck! And to think, I like peanut butter!

[rrozsa-2009]

Its time for the USA to take China''''s lead these maters such as the tainted baby formula incident. Find the CEO and/or whomever made the decision to market the product after it was found to be contaminated and put them to death. Anyone that puts profit over top of product safety deserves what they get. Come to think of it we could out-source this service as well. Not so messy that way.

---------------Posted by donevis at 12:11 PM : Jan 29, 2009
===================

Was the CEO put to death? I missed that story!

[cbscrash072]

How about a criminal investigation of the Government? They seem to have lapsed in their responsibility.