Friday, January 30, 2009
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In what the
Food and Drug Administration
is characterizing as one of the largest recalls in recent history, numerous types of products containing
peanuts
are being recalled in the
United States
. The FDA issued a recall on Wednesday on food items with peanut paste and other peanut products made after January 1, 2007 at a Peanut Corp. of America (PCA) center in
Blakely, Georgia
. The recall affects over 430 products containing peanut paste or peanut butter from the PCA plant.
U.S. federal inspectors stated
salmonella
was found in 12 instances at the plant. So far the incident has been linked to eight deaths, with over 500 individuals sickened from the tainted products.
U.S. Congressman
Henry Waxman
(D-CA) has announced he will hold a Congressional hearing February 11 before the
House Energy and Commerce Committee
to investigate the matter. According to an FDA report, peanut products from the Georgia plant returned to the United States after being exported were prevented from reentering the country in September due to containing "filthy, putrid or decomposed substance, or is otherwise unfit for food," but the products were not tested by federal inspectors.
According to the FDA, peanut products were shipped from the PCA facility though the company knew they were contaminated. PCA asserted it was unaware products were contaminated before being shipped, and released a statement saying it had "taken extraordinary measures to identify and recall all products that have been identified as presenting a potential risk". The PCA plant has since been shut down after state and federal inspectors discovered mold, roaches, a leaky roof, and other issues at the facility.
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If the FDA discovered that there was an issue with this product inspection, why didn't they follow up on it?
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?Rep.
Rosa DeLauro
(D-CT)
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Multiple members of Congress have made critical statements about the FDA regarding the incident. "The FDA failing to follow up after this incident, does that mean that products that are not good enough for a foreign country are still good enough for the USA?" said Senator
Tom Harkin
(D-IA), Chairman of the Senate Agriculture Committee.
"If the FDA discovered that there was an issue with this product inspection, why didn't they follow up on it? Why didn't they take a closer look at this facility?" asked Representative
Rosa DeLauro
(D-CT). Representative DeLauro called the actions of PCA "reprehensible and criminal".
Beth Falwell, daughter of PCA's founder Hugh Parnell, told
WSLS-TV
, the NBC affiliate in
Roanoke, Virginia
, in a statement Thursday that her brother Stewart Parnell who currently runs the company would not knowingly harm his customers. She believes the FDA report documenting poor conditions at the PCA facility contains inaccuracies. Stewart Parnell did not respond to repeated attempts by
The News & Advance
for a comment.
Consumers can find out more information at the website of the FDA, www.fda.gov, which lists the peanut products affected. The FDA list of items containing recalled peanut products is 35 pages long. Individuals can also find out more information about the incident by calling the
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
, at 1-800-CDC-INFO.
Related news
Sources
- "
Lawmaker sets hearing on salmonella outbreak
" —
Denver Post
, January 30, 2009
- Amy Easley. "
Peanut butter recall has everyone checking shelves
" —
KTVZ
, January 30, 2009
- "
Recall of peanut products expanded
" —
Topeka Capital Journal
, January 30, 2009
- Associated Press
. "
US gov't found tainted peanuts before outbreak
" —
International Herald Tribune
, January 30, 2009
- Monica Von Dobeneck. "
What's safe to eat?
" —
The Patriot-News
, January 30, 2009
- Colin Seiler, Justin Myers. "
Peanut butter recall reaches the Central Coast, company denies prior knowledge of salmonella contamination
" —
KSBY-TV
, January 29, 2009
- Gardiner Harris, Pam Belluck. "
New Look at Food Safety After Peanut Tainting
" —
The New York Times
, January 29, 2009
- "
Stores, Shoppers Adjust To Recalls
" —
KOCO
, January 29, 2009
- "
FDA: Multiple problems at peanut plant
" —
WBBH-TV
, January 29, 2009
- Mollie Halpern. "
Peanut family member asks for understanding
" —
The News & Advance
, January 29, 2009
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This page is
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Articles presented on Wikinews reflect the specific time at which they were written and published, and do not attempt to encompass events or knowledge which occur or become known after their publication.
Got a correction? Add the template {{
editprotected
}} to the
talk page
along with your corrections, and it will be
brought to the attention of
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administrators
.
Please note that due to our
archival policy
, we will not alter or update the content of articles that are archived, but will only accept requests to make grammatical and formatting corrections.
Note that some listed sources or external links may no longer be available online due to age.
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