Jan 30, 2009 5:00 pm US/Central
Feds Open Criminal Probe Of Ga. Peanut Plant
FDA Revealed Earlier That Peanuts Were Tainted With Metal Fragments
WASHINGTON (AP) ―
-
-
The Peanut Corp. of America has been the focus of a national salmonella outbreak caused by peanut products.
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."
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.
(© 2010 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)
Click to enlarge
Snow Clobbers Chicago For Evening Rush Hour 49 mins ago 
Stumble It!
Comments