Justice Dept. Targets Tainted Peanuts

Criminal Probe Launched Into Peanut Processing Plant Tied To Deadly Salmonella Outbreak

(CBS/AP)  The government has opened a criminal investigation into the Georgia peanut-processing plant at the center of the national salmonella outbreak, federal officials said Friday.

Stephen Sundlof, head of the Food and Drug Administration's food safety center, said the Justice Department will join FDA investigators in looking into possible criminal violations. The Peanut Corp. of America plant shipped allegedly tainted products to dozens of other food companies.

"It is an open investigation at this time," said Sundlof. "We can't really talk much about the investigation itself."

Inside the Georgia plant, FDA inspectors found roaches, mold and a leaking roof, reports CBS News correspondent Mark Strassmann.

At least a dozen times since 2007, FDA documents show plant officials knew peanut products had salmonella contamination, reports Strassmann. Instead of throwing them away, the company allegedly retested them - then shipped them into the food supply.

Georgia state inspectors are also under a microscope, adds Strassmann. One of its inspectors found violations last October, but there was no follow-up until this month.

More than 500 people have been sickened as a result of the outbreak, and at least eight may have died because of salmonella infections. More than 430 products have been pulled off the shelves in a recall that reaches to Canada and Europe.

In another development Friday, officials urged consumers to be cautious about "boutique" brands of peanut butter, which had not previously figured in the recall.

Although national brands of peanut butter are unaffected, some smaller companies may have received peanuts from the processing plant in Blakely, Ga., the FDA said.

Meanwhile, the White House pledged stricter oversight of food safety.

Press secretary Robert Gibbs said Friday that President Barack Obama plans to name a new FDA commissioner and other oversight officials in coming days. Gibbs said they will establish a "stricter regulatory structure" to prevent breakdowns in food safety.

"I think the revelations have no doubt been alarming," said Gibbs. That a company which found salmonella in its own testing would continue to ship products "is beyond disturbing for millions of parents," he added.

FDA officials said they last inspected the Blakely facility in 2001, when it wasn't being used to make peanut butter.

It did not get much attention from the federal government again until earlier this year, when a shipment of peanuts from the plant was returned from Canada because it was contaminated with metal fragments. The FDA then asked Georgia authorities to inspect.

But the state inspections did not detect what FDA officials say was a salmonella problem at the plant dating back to at least June of 2007.

The return of the contaminated shipment of peanuts was first reported by the Associated Press.

[sarah1se11]

This is very disturbing that a warehouse was in that kind of condition, with the mold and the roof leaking. What kind of a business are they running? It took 2 years for someone to look into this further? It shouldn''t of took this long.

[httpwwwnews]

This company should be closed down.

[toolmangler-2009]

Just for asking, what are the chances of this being a test by some terrorist or extremist group to see what the effect would be if our food sources were targeted on purpose?

[jetranger7]

The Plant Manager and Plant Supervisor along with those in Corporate office should all be held accountable, as quite possibly the CEO as well, it all started at middle management and worked its way up the ladder to cover this up, but, they''ll try to blame it on the workers, instead, who were most likely told by middle management to do it that way, and then it worked its way up the ladder to cover it up, they should be held completely accountable for ALL the Deaths and those who were Sickened by their Outright Poor Management Skills and Leadership decisions, looks as if that Almighty College Education those managers had , didn''t do them a bit of Good !!!!!!

[bobbyduck1]

The FDA and most other government regulatory agencies were gutted to the point of oblivion by Bush / GOP budget cuts, political "layoffs" and "appointments" and other underhanded tactics, to the point where anyone left there was just a shrub puppet!

And to you repugnantcons who want to harp on the "Democratic controlled Congress" since early 2007, they always had the Bush veto of anything worthwhile hanging over their heads. And he proved again and again that he would use it to get his own little baby-fit way! Why pass decent laws when an idiot is holding the axe laughing at you while you do it?

We have had outbreak after outbreak of this sort of thing over the past 6 years or so as a direct result of the 100% big business-oriented and 0% responsible GOP political machine.

Go ahead and keep ranting at President Obama while you still can, before too many years the GOPig-made mess will be cleaned up and when the government begins to actually function well again, what will you blubber about then?

[bozworth4]

Probably some of Jimmie Carters p nutz!!!!!!

[psk123-2009]

I am curious, why exactly is Obama being blamed? This out break happened BEFORE the November elections, and he was not sworn in as POTUS until just last week. Also, I believe it was a Republican controlled congress and White House when the FDA and many other agencies were cut in funding and personal. I am not saying that any Democrat that voted with the lock-step bunch on things that were detrimental to our nation, its safety or its people are in any way blameless. Anyone who voted against the best interest of the United States or its citizenry should be held accountable. Check out the voting records, stuff like this goes beyond party lines.

This company however, put $$ above safety, and should be held accountable. I''m talking the top guys that make the decisions, not the corporation itself or minor employees.

[notmudrose1]

That filthy, putrid substance on the p nus is Sara Palin.

[smf1957]

Nafta,spread the wealth!Thanks Bill.Now we have Obama to put it all back on track just as you planned.

[mnelsonix]

Posted by Credibility2 at 01:05 PM


LOL "FloydZepp: Thanks for the suggestion, but I use." - I bet you do use, and too much. Put the pipe down!... "I''m so happy for you that you apparently never make errors hitting the wrong keystrokes." your sarcasm is misplaced - he was simply making your wish come true ... FOR FREE! Firefox is free dummy!

[kommoncents-2009]

The top guys at this company should be charged with MURDER.

[pims2]

but the peanut king is JIMMY CARTER......and he owns stock in this very same company........it''s a democrap thing.....face facts, Clinton signed Nafta so now we are one big happy family....all for spreading the wealth......they forgot to tell you that by spreading the wealth,it breaks down the wealthiest nations and brings them down to the standards of the third world nation standards.......and the winners are big business

[oleander8]

TO: corey2444 ...So why do you repost the idiot message of pythoncharly? Let it drift to the bottom and fall into the CBS bit-bucket.

[cyinzl8r]

pythoncharly you must be one of them commies

[cyinzl8r]

Thanks Obama FDA. stupid democrats

[credibility2]

FloydZepp: Thanks for the suggestion, but I use. I''m so happy for you that you apparently never make errors hitting the wrong keystrokes.

[credibility2]

SORRY - I MEANT OF COURSE THE FDA! I wish the CBS board had the ability to correct misspellings.

[credibility2]

SORRY - I MEANT OF COURSE THE FDA! I wish the CBS board had the ability to correct misspellings.

[credibility2]

The FDS started cutting back in the Clinton years, so enough already with this constant blubbering about how everything is the fault of the last president, because it''s not. In this instance, not only is the FDS culpable, but the company owners and management need to be charged criminally for knowingly allowing tainted food into other food production. In China, at least their government sentences people like this to death. I think we need to begin following the lead of other countries like China in matters such as this.

[mnelsonix]

"It strikes me that if FDA was paying attention to this information, that they might have gone and done an inspection of the plant in September instead of waiting..."

The FDA is broken, along with every other government bureaucracy. We''ve become so bloated and lazy, that fixing food supply problems seems to be an untenable task.

That said, how the fu(k can our broken government fix our corrupt, broken, financial system?

Flirtascia ... We''re doomed!