photo: Elliott Minor/Associated Press
The current salmonella / peanut butter crisis has caused 500 illnesses and 7 deaths, with more product recalls every day (see updated list at the bottom of this post). The New York Times reports that the processing facility in Georgia was repeatedly cited for unsanitary conditions, as recently as 2007:
Inspections of the plant in Blakely, Ga., 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, owned by Peanut Corporation of America of Lynchburg, Va., has been shut down.
The inspection reports were provided by Georgia officials in response to a request made by The New York Times under the state’s open records act.
State officials said they could not release two recent inspection reports from 2008 because of the ongoing investigation into the plant. The state performs the inspections on behalf of the Food and Drug Administration as part of a contractual agreement with the federal agency, the officials said.
What you need to know:
Critics have harsh words for the FDA in its handling of the outbreak as well as the inability to have prevented it in the first place through more frequent inspections and severe punishments for sanitary or health infringements. To be fair, the FDA is underfunded and understaffed, and while good people work there, they are part of a larger puzzle of inefficiency with respect to food safety. As a small example, the FDA, USDA, and over twenty additional federal bodies are tasked with America’s food safety, instead of just one.
Here’s the Current Recall List:
50 Recalls, over 150 products as of early Saturday morning Jan 24.
- Trader Joe’s – Sliced Green Apples With All Natural Peanut Butter
- Supreme Protein – Supreme Protein® brand Peanut Butter Crunch Bars, Caramel Nut Bars
- ShopRite – Peanut Butter on Toasty Crackers, Peanut Butter and Cheese Cracker Snacks
- General Mills – LÄRABAR, JamFrakas Peanut Butter Snack Bars
- Whole Foods Market – “Carob Energee Nuggets”
- Amway Global – NUTRILITE Energy Bars
- Brent and Sam’s – Archer Farms Brand Cookies
- Brent and Sam’s – Sam’s Choice Brand Cookies
- Trader Joe’s – Trader Joe’s Peanut Butter Chewy Coated & Drizzled Granola Bars, Nutty Chocolate Chewy Coated & Drizzled Granola Bars, Sutter’s Formula Cookies
- Parker Products – Peanut Butter Products (bulk)
- Arbonne International – Figure 8 Peanut Butter Chews
- Jimmy’s Cookies – Peanut Butter Cookies
- Perry’s Ice Cream Company – 2 more Peanut Butter Ice Cream Products
- Kroger - Additional Select Ice Cream Product
- General Nutrition Centers – GNC Triflex Peanut Butter Soft Chews
- Chef Jay’s – Tri-O-Plex Products
- Rain Creek Baking Corp – Peanut Butter Turtles, Peanut Butter Baskets, Peanut Butter Princesses
- South Bend Chocolate Company – Extends Nationwide Recall of Candy
- Nash Finch – Bakery Products With Peanut Butter
- Aspen Hills, Inc. – Cookie Dough Products
- Best Brands Corp. – Peanut Butter Frozen Cookie Dough
- Lovin Oven, LLC – Health Valley Organic Peanut Crunch Chewy Granola Bars
- Landies Candies – Peanut Butter Filled Chocolates
- Weis Markets – Weis Quality (WQ) Cheese Peanut Butter Sandwich Crackers , WQ Toasted Peanut Butter Sandwich Crackers
- Blanton’s Candies – Peanut Butter Sticks
- Dinners Ready Meridian – Asian Marinated Flank Steak, Indonesian Chicken – Chicken Satay Prepared Meals
- Boca Grande Foods – POCO PAC, GRANDE GOURMET Peanut Butter Products
- Premier Nutrition – TWISTED and TITAN Branded Bars Containing Peanut Butter
- NutriSystem – Peanut Butter Granola Bar
- Ready Pac Foods – Trader Joe’s, Eating Right branded products
- PetSmart – Grreat Choice® Dog Biscuits
- Nature’s Path – Peanut Butter Optimum Energy Bars
- Country Maid – Classic Breaks® Peanut Butter Cookie Dough
- Evening Rise Bread Co. - Peanut Butter Cookies and Bars
- Clif Bar - CLIF® and LUNA® Branded Bars
- Kroger – Select Ice Cream Products
- Abbott Nutrition - ZonePerfect® Chocolate Peanut Butter Bars, ZonePerfect® Peanut Toffee Bars, NutriPals™ Peanut Butter Chocolate Bars
- Meijer – Peanut Butter Crackers, Ice Cream
- Peanut Corporation of America Expands Nationwide Recall of Peanut Butter
- Wal-Mart - Bakery Brand Peanut Butter Cookies
- Lofthouse – Peanut Butter Cookies, Chuck’s Chunky Peanut Butter Cookies, Pastries Plus Gourmet Cookies
- Food Lion – Bake Shop Peanut Butter Cookies
- South Bend Chocolate Company – Candies Containing Peanut Butter
- McKee Foods – Little Debbie® Peanut Butter Toasty, Peanut Butter Cheese Sandwich Crackers
- Perry’s Ice Cream – Select Peanut Butter Ice Cream Products
- Hy-Vee Inc. – Bakery Products With Peanut Butter
- Peanut Corporation of America Expands Nationwide Recall of Peanut Butter
- Kellogg Company – Austin® and Keebler® Branded Peanut Butter Sandwich Crackers, Snack-Size Packs of Famous Amos® And Keebler® Soft Batch Peanut Butter Cookies
- Peanut Corporation of America – Peanut Butter (bulk packages)
- King Nut – Peanut Butter (bulk packages)
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