food safety

Published on: February 17, 2009

Georgia Salmonella Outbreak May Lead to Greater Food Safety

In the days since we were first informed that the nationwide salmonella food poisoning outbreak originated at a Peanut Corporation of America plant in Blakely, Georgia, the death toll from the outbreak has reached 9, the number of people sickened from salmonella tainted products has risen to 19,000 and food poisoning lawsuits have been filed.

Last week, Stewart Parnell, president of Peanut Corporation of America was summoned to Washington to testify at a congressional hearing. Meanwhile, skeletons have been tumbling at the PCA.Former employees at the Blakely plant have come forward to sing like canaries about the abhorrent sanitation practices at the plant. According to one employee, he once found baby mice inside a packet of peanuts. The same employee also claims that he has been witness to the practice of pasting new stickers on jars of old peanut paste, and has seen holes drilled by rats in sacks of peanuts. A new FDA report also indicates that management at the Georgia plant continued to ship out products that they knew had tested positive for salmonella contamination. According to the report, the company continued to retest its products until test results showed findings that were more to its liking – that the peanut butter was salmonella free.

The concern over products from the Georgia plant is so intense that the FDA has asked consumers to throw out any peanut butter products made at the plant over the past 2 years.

Published on: February 3, 2009

Georgia Peanut Butter Plant Has History of Poor Sanitation

by Robert N. Katz, Esq.

The Georgia peanut butter plant at the center of the salmonella food poisoning crisis has a poor sanitation record, and has frequently been cited for health and sanitation violations, the NY Times (via Tort Deform) reports.Judging by the condition of the plant in our very own Blakely, Georgia, the media and food poisoning lawyers should not even be surprised that a nationwide outbreak of deadly salmonella poisoning has originated from this facility.

The Peanut Corporation of America plant has been cited several times since 2006 for health violations. Inspectors have frequently found the facility full of large gaping holes in its food security mechanisms. These include grease accumulation inside the facility, doors with large holes that a rat could easily squeeze through, and dirt and grime everywhere.The plant had areas caked with rust that could easily disperse and fall into food products, and poor sanitization of surfaces meant for food processing.Peanut butter packets were left lying around uncovered. These violations continued even till 2008, when inspection reports continued to mention numerous violations.

Dirty and unsanitary conditions breed rodents and insects.Animal feces are just one of the ways that the salmonellum bacterium spreads.The risk of infectious disease is the reason why food processing and preparation plants and establishments that serve food like restaurants, are put though numerous safety inspections.From the report in the Times, it seems like that the plant was a salmonellosis time bomb waiting to go off.

Published on: January 22, 2009

FDA Continues to Sleep Over Food Safety

by Robert N. Katz, Esq.

Seattlepi.com has an interesting story about how well we can expect our federal agencies to ensure that the food that makes it to our tables is safe to eat. The focus of the story is but naturally, the salmonella food poisoning crisis that has engulfed the country with 6 deaths connected to the epidemic so far.

The biggest source of concern to American consumers in this latest crisis, the report says is the manner in which the Food and Drug Administration dragged its feet for more than three months before confirming an outbreak. The latest crisis that has involved the agency’s food safety protocol has had consumer safety advocates, food poisoning lawyers as well as the public, wondering how the FDA which found out weeks ago that the Georgia plant of Peanut Corporation of America was the source of the particular strain of Salmonella found in the contaminated peanut butter, could have waited so long before they even confirmed the source. The FDA continued to mouth the same line – that the peanut butter in question was only sold to restaurants, nursing homes and food companies, but they still have not released a list of all Peanut Corporation of America clients who may have received the contaminated butter. The FDA’s outdated practices mean that manufacturers are rarely forced to recall their products. The agency prefers to rely on voluntary recalls by companies, and in many cases, these are too late to prevent severe illnesses.

More companies meanwhile are queuing up to announce recalls of their products that contain peanut butter. General Mills has recalled 2 varieties of snack bars because butter used in the snacks came from the Peanut Corporation of America. Other companies including Perry’s Ice cream Company, Food Lion Cookie, Hy-Vee Inc, have all removed their products containing peanut butter from store shelves as a precautionary measure because of the fear that these could contain traces of the contaminated butter.

Published on: January 13, 2009

Georgia Affected by Peanut Butter Salmonella Outbreak

by Robert N. Katz, Esq.

According to the Department of Public Health, five cases of the salmonella food poisoning that have been reported across the country have been found in Georgia.A few days ago, the Centers for Disease Prevention and Control announced an outbreak of salmonella poisoning in 42 states.The outbreak apparently occurred between October to December, and has sickened close to 400 people.One elderly woman who died during the period had been infected at the time of her death, but it hasn’t been confirmed if she died because of the poisoning.

Now, fresh reports confirm that a brand of peanut butter has been traced as the source of the contamination. Batches of King Nut and Parnell’s Pride peanut butter that were distributed by King Nut Cos, and supplied to schools, nursing homes and restaurants, have been recalled.The batches were only sold to institutions, and were not available directly to the public.The company apparently only distributed the product which is manufactured by Peanut Corporation of America.The link was traced when tests conducted by the Minnesota Department of Agriculture and Health on the peanut butter batches revealed a match with the strain of salmonella Typhirium type that has been responsible for the outbreak.

Symptoms of salmonella poisoning include abdominal cramps, fever and diarrhea. In cases of serious infection, hospitalization may be required. The symptoms are particularly acute in the case of children, elderly or those who have weakened immune systems.In serious cases, the infection may spread to other parts of the body, and death can result.