Jan 28, 2009 4:30 pm US/Pacific
Peanut Recall Grows As Feds Find Problems At Plant
Peanut Corp. Shipped Products After Second Test Cleared Items; Failed To Notify FDA
Lawmaker Calls For Criminal Probe Of Facility
FDA Recalls All Peanut Butter Products From Plant Since 2007
WASHINGTON (AP) ―
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Peanut products initially found to be contaminated with salmonella were shipped as recently as last September. (File)
AP
The salmonella outbreak spawned one of the largest ever product recalls Wednesday at a Georgia plant where federal inspectors reported finding roaches, mold, a leaking roof and other signs of health problems.
Workers at the Blakely, Ga., plant owned by Peanut Corp. of America continued shipping peanut products even after they were found to contain salmonella.
Peanut Corp. expanded its recall to all the peanut products produced at the plant since Jan. 1, 2007. The company is relatively small, but its peanut paste is an ingredient in hundreds of other food products, from ice cream, to Asian-style sauces, to dog biscuits.
A senior lawmaker in Congress and Georgia's agriculture commissioner called for a criminal investigation of the company, but the Food and Drug Administration said such a step is premature while its own food safety investigation continues.
More than 500 people have gotten sick in the outbreak and at least eight may have died as a result. More than 400 products have already been recalled.
(© 2010 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)
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