By Lisa Wade McCormick
ConsumerAffairs.com
January 29, 2009
The company linked to the nationwide salmonella outbreak -- Peanut Corporation of America (PCA) -- has expanded its massive recall to include all peanuts and peanut products made at its Georgia facility since January 1, 2007.
The action comes hours after federal officials released an inspection report that detailed unsanitary conditions at PCA's Georgia plant -- including roaches and mold -- and confirmed the company shipped peanut products it knew were contaminated with salmonella.
PCA's latest recall now includes all peanuts (dry and oil roasted), granulated peanuts, peanut meal, peanut butter, and peanut paste -- along with a warning to pet owners.
"Because some of our peanut products have been used by manufacturers of pet food," the company said, "we are also alerting the public that salmonella is an organism that can potentially be transferred to people handling pet treats."
PCA's products are not sold directly to consumers. They are distributed to long-term care facilities, universities, food service industries, and private label food companies in the United States, Canada, Haiti, Korea, and Trinidad.
U.S. food makers use the company's peanut butter and paste as ingredients in cookies, crackers, energy bars, ice cream, and other products.
Food makers have already recalled hundreds of products in the wake of this salmonella outbreak, which is blamed for the illnesses of more than 500 people in 43 states and may be linked to the deaths of eight others.
Salmonella
Salmonella is an organism that can cause serious and sometimes fatal infections in young children, frail or elderly people, and those with weakened immune systems. Symptoms include fever, diarrhea (which may be bloody), nausea, vomiting, and abdominal pain. In rare cases, it can cause more severe illnesses, including arterial infections (i.e., infected aneurysms), endocarditis, and arthritis.
In pets, symptoms of salmonella infection include lethargy, diarrhea, bloody diarrhea, fever, and vomiting. Some pets, however, may have a decreased appetite, fever and abdominal pain.
Salmonella is carried by animal feces, health officials say. And foods can become contaminated if infected handlers do not wash their hands with soap after using the bathroom.
FDA's findings
The FDA's inspection report (pdf file) of PCA's Georgia plant describes a facility riddled with unsanitary conditions, including:
• "Failure to manufacture food under conditions and controls necessary to minimize the potential for growth of microorganisms and contamination;"
• "Failure to maintain equipment, containers and utensils used to convey, hold, and store food in a manner that protects against contamination;"
• Failure to store finished food under conditions that would protect against microbial contamination;"
• "Failure to perform mechanical manufacturing steps so as to protect food against contamination;"
• "Effective measures are not being taken to protect against the contamination of food on the premises by pests."
The report also confirms the company shipped peanut butter products it knew were contaminated with various strains of salmonella 12 times in the past two year.
The salmonella strain Typhimurium is linked to the current outbreak.
According to the inspection report, PCA knew a sample of peanut paste -- identified as lot # 8278 -- tested positive salmonella Typhimurium. The company retested that sample and -- after it came back negative for salmonella -- shipped the peanut butter paste.
"This peanut paste was manufactured on 9/26/08 from (redacted) lb. totes of roasted peanuts received on 9/25/08," the report states. "The lots of roasted peanuts received on 9/25/08 were also used to produce the following products that were also shipped in interstate commerce: (redacted) totes used to manufacture (redacted) peanut butter under lot #8276; one tote was used to manufacture peanut butter for (redacted) under lot # 8277 and (redacted) under lot #8277."
Contaminated products shipped?
According the inspection report, PCA routinely shipped products that tested positive for salmonella.
It happened 11 other times since 2007.
Each time, the report states, PCA's products tested positive for salmonella. But after the company retested those products -- and they came back negative for salmonella -- PCA shipped the peanuts, peanut granules, and other peanut items.
PCA -- a family-owned business based in Virginia -- claims it "strives constantly to maintain an environment in compliance with federal, state and local regulations and guidelines to provide a clean, safe product."
But FDA investigators didn't find a clean and safe environment when they inspected the company's plant in January.
Dirty conditions
Consider some of the dirty and contaminated conditions they discovered:
• A live roach and several dead roaches in the facility's wash room during an inspection on January 9. This bathroom is next to the facility's production/packaging area, the report states.
• Mold growing on the ceiling and walls in the facility's cooler used to store finished products. "In addition, water stains were observed running down from the cooling unit fans in the cooler," the report states. "On 1/10/09, pallets of finished product were stored directly beneath this unit;"
• The company did not clean the peanut paste line after the strain of salmonella Typhimurium was isolated in peanut paste made at the plant on September 26, 2008 (lot 8278). "The firm continued to manufacturer peanut paste in this system from 9/26/08 to the beginning of this inspection on 1/9/09." The report adds: "There are no records to document the cleaning of the peanut paste line after salmonella was detected in peanut pasted manufactured on January 25, 2008. The firm continued to manufacturer peanut paste in this system;"
• PCA stored totes of finished peanut products within 15 feet from a crack in the floor that tested positive for salmonella Senftenberg on January 10, 2009;
• Finished peanut products were stored on pallets within three feet of a spot on the cooler floor that tested positive for salmonella Mbandaka on January 10, 2009;
• Water stains and water streaks were found on the ceiling and the edges of the skylights in the production/packaging room. "Totes of finished, roasted product and a roasted nut packaging line are located directly underneath these areas," according to the inspection report;
• The sink located in the peanut butter room is used "interchangeably" as a point for cleaning hands and utensils and for washing out mops;
• A mesh-type conveyor was stored in the company's equipment/utensil wash room, which was used as catch-all storage area for buckets, stainless steel pipes, and floor mats. "The insides and end rollers of this conveyor were covered with a slimy, black-brown residue," the report states. "Additionally, the bottom sections of the wash room walls had areas of mold."
PCA has halted production at its Georgia plant and says it's working with the FDA and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in their investigation of the salmonella outbreak.
Expanded recall
Hours after the FDA disclosed the unsanitary conditions at its Georgia facility, the company recalled all peanut butter and paste made at that plant in the paste two years.
The products included in this expanded recall are:
• Peanut Butter All Styles All Sizes All Lots beginning with 7, 8, or 9;
• Peanut Paste All Styles All Sizes All Lots beginning with 7,8, or 9;
• Peanut Meal All Styles All Sizes All lots beginning with 7, 8, or 9;
• Peanut Granules All Styles All Sizes All lots beginning with 7, 8 or 9.
"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," said Stewart Parnell, President of Peanut Corporation of America. "Additionally, we are working alongside state and federal food safety experts in every way we can to help them protect consumers, both now and in the future."
He added: "We want our customers and consumers to know that PCA is taking extraordinary measures, out of an abundance of caution, to identify and recall all products that have been identified as potential risks."
The company said it is not aware of any illnesses linked to the additional peanuts and peanut products included in this latest recall.
PCA said it will notify customers who received the recalled products. For more information on this action, consumers can contact the company at 1-877-564-7080.
The FDA now has a complete list of all products recalled in the salmonella outbreak on its Web site. Consumers can check that list to see if their favorite products are included in any recalls.
