Peanut Butter Recall News

Peanut Butter Recall Expands To Army Warehouses

Posted by Julie Schmit and Elizabeth Weise, USA Today January 31, 2009

Worried about salmonella, the U.S. Army said Thursday it is removing some peanut butter items from warehouses in Europe, the latest in an ever-growing list of recalled peanut products linked to a salmonella outbreak in the U.S.

The Army's recall does not affect Meals-Ready-to-Eat, but another kind of military food called Unitized Group Rations-A, which provide a complete 50-person meal.

The recall of peanut butter and paste products made at a Georgia plant was expanded Wednesday to include two years of production, making it one of the largest recalls ever, the Food and Drug Administration says.

The FDA also Wednesday released a scathing report on conditions at the Peanut Corp. of America plant linked to the salmonella outbreak, and Rep. Rosa DeLauro, D-Conn., called on the Department of Justice to see if a criminal probe is warranted., However, the FDA said that would be premature while its own food safety investigation continues.

The tainted peanut products have been linked to 501 illnesses nationwide and may have led to eight deaths.

The company says it is fully cooperating with the government and has stopped all production at the plant. Peanut Corp. said in a statement it "categorically denies any allegations that the company sought favorable results from any lab in order to ship its products."

Stewart Parnell, the firm's president, said that the recall was expanded out of an abundance of caution.

"We have been devastated by this, and we have been working around the clock with the FDA to ensure any potentially unsafe products are removed from the market immediately," Parnell said.

The FDA's report, covering a 14-day inspection, revealed poor sanitation, conditions that would allow salmonella to spread, a gap in the roof through which salmonella-contaminated water or bird feces could fall, the presence of roaches and failure by the firm to check that its peanut-roasting process killed salmonella.

Previous checks of the plant by Georgia inspectors noted smaller sanitation infractions.

The most serious issue found by the FDA and reported Tuesday was that the plant in 2007 and 2008 sold peanut butter or other products that tested positive for salmonella after retests came up negative. Such product should not have been sold, the FDA says.

Dozens of companies have recalled products, including Kellogg. An independent auditor checked the plant last year and gave it a superior rating, says Kellogg spokeswoman Kris Charles. The plant replaced its roof since the inspection last fall, so a 1.5-inch-by-2.4-foot gap found by the FDA may not have been there, the FDA's Stephen Sundlof says.

PCA's peanut butter was sold to institutions. Major-brand peanut butter sold in stores is not affected, the FDA says. PCA's peanut paste or butter went into hundreds of products such as crackers, cookies and ice cream.

Georgia lawmakers are considering requiring foodmakers to inform state officials about internal product-test results, says Tommy Irvin, commissioner of the Georgia Department of Agriculture.

PCA says it uses "reputable" labs for its product testing and doesn't agree with all of the FDA's observations on its inspection report.

"We have been devastated by this, and we have been working around the clock with the FDA to ensure any potentially unsafe products are removed from the market," said Stewart Parnell, PCA president. The Blakely, Ga., plant has closed.

Contributing: Associated Press

The expansion will engulf many more products beyond the 432, including crackers and cookies, already on a list kept by the FDA.