Peanut Corporation of America Bites the Dust

The Peanuts of the Year Title for 2001 – 2009 Go to FDA!

The FDA had not inspected PCA’s Blakely plant since 2001

Peanut Corporation of America’s (PCA), the company responsible for the salmonella outbreak in the U.S., which has sickened at least 600 people and may have led to the deaths of 8 others, declared bankruptcy Friday.

The building of the now-closed Peanut Corporation of America plant is pictured in Blakely, Georgia on January 29, 2009. REUTERS/Matthew Bigg. Image may be subject to copyright.

Salmonella bacterial infection traced to PCA’s plant in Blakely, Ga., led to one of the biggest product recalls in U.S. history, involving up to 2,000 products that were suspected to contain tainted peanut butter or peanut paste.

According to a  survey conducted at the Harvard School of Public Health about 28 percent of Americans no longer eat  foods that were included in the recall, while 15 percent stopped eating any foods that contains peanuts, Reuters reported.

Texas state health officials ordered PCA to recall all products made at its Plainview, Texas, plant after finding “contamination and filthy conditions there,” on Thursday.

“The FDA had not inspected the Blakely plant since 2001, delegating the responsibility to the Georgia Department of Agriculture beginning in 2006.

“It was during this time that internal tests conducted by Peanut Corporation found salmonella 12 times, first starting in 2007, at the Blakely facility. The company sold the product anyway.”

“An FDA plant inspection report has since revealed cracks in the floor, live cockroaches, mold and water dripping from the ceiling in an area where finished products were stored.

“There appeared to be a problem with the oversight of this particular contract because of the failure of these inspections to uncover glaring unsanitary conditions that were discovered later after the salmonella outbreak,” DeLauro said in a letter to Daniel Levinson, the inspector general at HHS.

“Given the varying standards of inspection programs across the country, it is probable that there are other states with similar situations,” she said.

“The inspector general’s office first identified the weakness at the FDA in June 2000, DeLauro said.”

PCA filed a Chapter 7 bankruptcy petition in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court [Western District of Virginia,] claiming  the mass recall had an “extremely devastating” impact on its finances, Reuters reported. In contrast to Chapter 11 bankruptcy law, which permits companies to reorganize under the bankruptcy laws of the United States,  Chapter 7 works to liquidate their assets to repay creditors.

Related News Links:

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• Audit urged for FDA-state pacts after peanut scare

Related  Links:

• Peanut Corp of America widens salmonella recall
• Don’t Eat Peanut Butter Products!
• 13 things you should know about the world before you depart prematurely!
• 10 Biggest Threats to the US National Security

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