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Source of Salmonella Contamination in Peanut Butter May Be Found

Texas plant sample tests positive for strain that caused nationwide outbreak

By Lisa Wade McCormick
ConsumerAffairs.com

February 26, 2009

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A sample of peanut meal from the Peanut Corporation of America's (PCA) Texas plant has tested positive for the same strain of salmonella linked to the nationwide outbreak that has sickened hundreds of people and may have caused the deaths of nine others, state health officials announced Wednesday.

The Texas Department of State Health Services (DSHS) said a sample of peanut meal collected on February 12 at PCA's Plainview, Texas plant contained Salmonella Typhimurium.

Texas authorities shut down that plant on February 9 after inspectors found dead rodents, bird feathers, and rodent excrement in a crawl space above the facility's production area. That same day, state officials recalled all peanut products made at the plant since 2005.

This is the second PCA plant where samples of peanut products have tested positive for the strain of salmonella linked to the nationwide outbreak.

In January, an inspection by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) of the company's Blakely, Georgia, plant revealed internal tests of a sample of peanut paste tested positive for Salmonella Typhimurium. That sample, identified as lot #8278, was made at the plant on September 26, 2008 and later shipped into commerce.

The inspection also revealed the company shipped peanut products from that plant — 12 times since 2007 — that had tested positive for fours strains of salmonella. FDA inspectors also found unsanitary conditions at the plant, including roaches, mold, and a leaking roof.

According to the Associated Press, PCA shipped products between its Georgia and Texas plants. The company mainly shipped "seasoned" products — including honey roasted peanuts and hot and spicy peanuts — from its Georgia plant to its facility in Texas, the wire service said. PCA shipped peanut meal from its Texas plant to the one in Georgia.

FDA officials said they will continue investigating the current salmonella outbreak, but are confident they've found the likely culprit.

"The FDA's investigation is ongoing and the agency is looking at both the PCA Blakely plant and the PCA Plainview (Texas) plant as sources of contamination for the outbreak," Stephanie Kwisnek told the Associated Press.

Meanwhile, PCA remains the focus of a criminal investigation for knowingly shipping products it knew had tested positive for salmonella. It also faces dozens of civil lawsuits.

Damaging evidence has already surface against the company, including e-mails that indicate the company's president, Stewart Parnell, ordered products he knew were tainted with salmonella to be shipped anyway. Some of those potentially-tainted products made their way to poor schoolchildren and victims of recent disasters.

Earlier this month, Parnell refused to answer questions about the salmonella outbreak from the House Energy and Commerce investigations subcommittee. A few days later, the company filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy.

The latest figures from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reveal the salmonella outbreak has sickened 666 people in 45 states.

While PCA's products were not sold directly to consumers, food manufacturers used the company's peanut butter and paste to make cookies, crackers, cereal, ice cream, energy bars, and even pet treats.

In recent months, more than 200 companies have pulled nearly 2,700 products off store shelves because they contain potentially tainted PCA products. Many continue to pull products off the market almost every day, making this one of the country's largest food-related recalls.

None of the national brands of peanut butter — including Skippy, Jif, and Peter Pan — are included in any recalls. The makers of those products continue to remind consumers their peanut butter is safe to eat.

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, health officials say.

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.

FDA officials warn salmonella can be transferred from pets to humans. They advise pet owners to thoroughly wash their hands before and after feeding treats to pets.

Consumers should also discard any products recalled in this salmonella outbreak, officials said.

The FDA now has a database that consumers can search to see if their favorite products are involved in any recalls.

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