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Peanut Plant Knew of Contamination, Officials Say Source of Article: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/01/28/us/29Peanut.html?hp Published: January
28, 2009 Federal
Inspectional Report (pdf) Officials from the Food and Drug Administration and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
traced the outbreak to Peanut Corporation of America’s plant in Blakely, Ga.
And on Jan. 9, investigators descended on the plant for a thorough
inspection. Michael Rogers, director of the division of
filed investigations at the F.D.A., said that the inspectional team found
records showing that on at least 12 occasions between 2007 and 2008, the
company’s own tests of its product “identified some type of salmonella and
released a product after it was retested, in some cases by a different
laboratory.” Mr. Rogers said the positive test results
should have led the company to take actions to eliminate the contamination.
“It’s significant because, at the point at which salmonella was identified,
it shouldn’t be there, based on the manufacturing
process that’s designed to mitigate salmonella, actually eliminate it.” The firm took no steps to clean its plant after
the test results alerted the company to the contamination, and the inspection
team found problems with the plant’s routine cleaning procedures as well, Mr.
Rogers said. Retesting contaminated product until it tests
clean and then selling that product is not appropriate, according to agency
officials. “This is a practice that the firm should not have engaged in,” Dr.
Stephen Sundlof, director of the agency’s food
center said on Tuesday. Calls to the Peanut Corporation on Wednesday
were not immediately returned. But in a statement to reporters, George
Clarke, a spokesman for the company, said it “has cooperated fully with
F.D.A. from Day 1 during the course of this investigation.” He added, “We
have shared with them every record that they have asked for that is in our
possession, and we will continue to do so.” More than 100 children under the age of 5 have
been sickened, and illnesses have been reported in at least 43 states, said
Dr. Robert Tauze, deputy director of the Division
of Food Borne Bacteria and Mycotic Diseases at the
disease centers. Figures from the centers indicate that The company’s peanut products are used
primarily at institutions like schools and nursing homes and as ingredients in
commercial snack products. As of Wednesday, more than 125 products have been
recalled. The plant where the contamination was
discovered, located in the southwestern corner of Inspections by the State Agriculture Department
found areas of rust that could flake into food, gaps in warehouse doors large
enough for rodents to get through, unmarked spray bottles and containers and
numerous violations of other practices designed to prevent food
contamination. The plant was recently shut down. A typical entry from an inspection report,
dated Aug. 23, 2007, said: “The food-contact surfaces of re-work kettle in
the butter room department were not properly cleaned and sanitized.” Another
entry noted: “The food-contact surfaces of the bulk oil roast transfer belt”
in a particular room “were not properly cleaned and sanitized. The
food-contact surfaces of pan without wheels in the blanching department were
not properly cleaned and sanitized.” A code violation in the same report observed
“clean peanut butter buckets stored uncovered,” while another cited a “wiping
cloth” to “cover crack on surge bin.” Tests on samples gathered on the day of
that inspection were negative for salmonella. Two inspection reports from 2008 found the
plant to be out of compliance with practices for making sure “food and
non-food contact surfaces were cleanable, properly designed, constructed and
used.” The state performs the inspections on behalf of
the Food and Drug Administration as part of a contractual agreement with the
federal agency, officials said. |
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