Controversial food supply

[James48843]

OK - How about this one...

A food producer in Georgia is alleged to have made a conscious decision, after learning that their product was contaminated with salmonella.

At least 8 people have died, and 575 made ill from the salmonella outbreak.

Quick- if you were in charge of the FDA- how would YOU handle it?

Prosecute the owners of the plant with criminal charges?

Prosecute the plant manager?

The workers who were there when it happened?

What federal charge, if any, would you bring? What charge at the state level do you think is appropriate?

Was it just all an accident?

In the meantime, it appears that as recently as the last week, another government agency, the USDA, was continuing to purchase peanut products from this plant for use in the school lunch program. It was only now that USDA has suspended the contract:

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090207/ap_on_go_ot/salmonella_outbreak

What are your thoughts?

 

[ChemEng]

FDA shouldn't do anything.

The families of those affected should bring the company to court and let them decide.

OK - How about this one...

A food producer in Georgia is alleged to have made a conscious decision, after learning that their product was contaminated with salmonella.

At least 8 people have died, and 575 made ill from the salmonella outbreak.

Quick- if you were in charge of the FDA- how would YOU handle it?

Prosecute the owners of the plant with criminal charges?

Prosecute the plant manager?

The workers who were there when it happened?

What federal charge, if any, would you bring? What charge at the state level do you think is appropriate?

Was it just all an accident?

What are your thoughts?

 

[Viva_La_Migra]

OK - How about this one...

A food producer in Georgia is alleged to have made a conscious decision, after learning that their product was contaminated with salmonella.

At least 8 people have died, and 575 made ill from the salmonella outbreak.

Quick- if you were in charge of the FDA- how would YOU handle it?

Prosecute the owners of the plant with criminal charges?

Prosecute the plant manager?

The workers who were there when it happened?

What federal charge, if any, would you bring? What charge at the state level do you think is appropriate?

Was it just all an accident?

In the meantime, it appears that as recently as the last week, another government agency, the USDA, was continuing to purchase peanut products from this plant for use in the school lunch program. It was only now that USDA has suspended the contract:

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090207/ap_on_go_ot/salmonella_outbreak

What are your thoughts?

Make the plant manager, CEO, and the entire Board eat peanut butter sandwiches made with the tainted products!

 

[Callme_CO]

sue them and let them lay off most of their workers to keep a float and give the ceo and plant managers hefty bonus for killing people.

 

[Buster]

Make the plant manager, CEO, and the entire Board eat peanut butter sandwiches made with the tainted products!

Funny you should say that...During the congressional hearing yesterday, the CEO of the Peanut Butter co..was asked if he would eat any of his products they had for him in a bundle of various goodies made with his peanut butter..I mean he held it up and offered it to him to eat...Of course the CEO declined under whatever amendment of his civil rights he kept quoting to every question put to him..LOL...the squirming bastard

 

[Viva_La_Migra]

Funny you should say that...During the congressional hearing yesterday, the CEO of the Peanut Butter co..was asked if he would eat any of his products they had for him in a bundle of various goodies made with his peanut butter..I mean he held it up and offered it to him to eat...Of course the CEO declined under whatever amendment of his civil rights he kept quoting to every question put to him..LOL...the squirming bastard

Eye for eye, tooth for tooth! Salmonella for salmonella!:nuts:

 

[James48843]

If it wasn't bad enough already,
Peanut Corp of America has another plant, in Texas.

That plant was shut down last Monday-

Reason? A Positive test for salmonella.

Here is what USA Today said last week:

------------------------------------------




He displayed a document showing that Parnell on Jan. 12 — a day before PCA's first recall — wrote to employees "we have never found any salmonella" and blamed the news media for creating a stir.


The hearing revealed a few new details about PCA and company e-mails indicating internal frustration about repeated tests showing positive results for salmonella.


In a June 2008 email, obtained by the congressional committee, Parnell was told that a product was "put on hold" after a presumptive positive on salmonella and that it was being retested.


"I go thru this about once a week," Parnell responded. "I will hold my breath … again."


Two months later another e-mail exchange indicates that PCA had a product test positive for salmonella that was then retested by another lab and got a negative result.


In response, Parnell wrote: "Let's turn them loose then." The FDA says it's well known in the industry that such product should be destroyed as salmonella can be missed in tests.


Parnell also expressed concern about testing costs. According to another email, the plant manager told him last September that a product had been shipped that tested positive for salmonella. The product would be retested, he was told. The plant manager also told Parnell that customers receiving the product should put it on hold.


A week later, an e-mail from Parnell said, "We need to discuss this …. The time lapse … is costing us huge $$$$$" and that PCA needed to "protect our self and the problem is that the tests absolutely give us no protection."


The hearing also revealed that as far back as 2006, the plant had a salmonella finding, potentially linked to Chinese-supplied organic peanuts, according to company records.


In November, 2006, a private lab hired by PCA said in a letter to the company that its roasting step — a kill step for salmonella — hadn't been adequately checked for efficiency and noted that improvements were underway. After an inspection last month, the FDA said the plant failed to show that its roasting was an effective kill step.


JLA USA, one of several private labs that PCA hired to test its products, also told lawmakers that it tested 1,000 samples for PCA from Jan. 1, 2007 through Sept., 2008 and found 10 positives.


JLA also told the committee that PCA had shipped product to Utah before a test result turned up positive and that it was told that PCA would destroy the product out west rather than have it returned to Georgia.


JLA President Darlene Cowart told the committee that it appeared that PCA largely dropped JLA as a lab because the lab found higher bacterial counts in its products than did others.


Stephen Sundlof, director of the FDA's Center for Food Safety, told lawmakers the FDA wanted new authorities to tighten oversight, specifically the right to receive internal test results during routine FDA inspections. The FDA didn't know about PCA's internal test results showing salmonella until it requested them after the outbreak was underway. Such records are not available to the FDA during routine inspections, Sundlof said.


The PCA plant in Blakely, Ga. has been closed for weeks. PCA's Texas plant was shut Monday after testing there also revealed salmonella. It's not clear yet whether that salmonella is linked to the outbreak strain.
The case has turned a spotlight on gaps in the USA's food safety net.



The FDA relied on Georgia state inspectors to check PCA's Blakely, plant and they found only minor violations. The FDA noted more serious deficiencies in a 14-day inspection after the outbreak was underway.


Major food makers relied on audits that PCA paid for to guarantee that their processes were good. Private labs that tested products for contamination and found positives gave that information to the company — the typical industry practice — because there are no laws that they inform regulators.


The plant in Texas went unlicensed and uninspected for four years because the state didn't know it was there.


"We appear to have a total systemic breakdown," said Rep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., and chairman of the oversight sub-committee of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, which held the hearing.

 

[James48843]

There are now more than 480 PAGES of peanut products being recalled- a total of 2,226 entries so far:

Here is a PDF of the 480 page list:
http://www.accessdata.fda.gov/scripts/peanutbutterrecall/PeanutButterProducts2009.pdf


And here is a quick listing of the brand names involved in the recall:

From: http://www.accessdata.fda.gov/scripts/peanutbutterrecall/index.cfm#Peanut

 

[James48843]

FDA put this out a couple weeks ago, when they had 400+ products being recalled.

That is what he was saying when the had 400 products identified for recall.

Now they are up to 2,260 products, and the latest plant closing was just last monday. More products to come.

Bottom line- don't eat em.
​

 

[alevin]

Major food makers relied on audits that PCA paid for to guarantee that their processes were good. Private labs that tested products for contamination and found positives gave that information to the company — the typical industry practice — because there are no laws that they inform regulators.


The plant in Texas went unlicensed and uninspected for four years because the state didn't know it was there. [UN-beLIEVEable!!]


"We appear to have a total systemic breakdown," said Rep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., and chairman of the oversight sub-committee of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, which held the hearing.

Now there's a candidate for understatement of the year!!! :notrust:

 

[Silverbird]

Sigh, the new FDA peanut page, read and weep. I love peanuts. http://www.fda.gov/oc/opacom/hottopics/salmonellatyph.html

Includes recalled product list

 

[James48843]

Recall has now been expanded again- this time to all products processed back to 2007.

List now includes 2,578 entires- up more than 300 from last week:

Peanut Butter and other Peanut Containing Products Recall List

http://www.fda.gov/oc/opacom/hottopics/salmonellatyph.html

Information current as of 12 PM February 20, 2009
2578 entries in list

 

[McDuck]