(no subject)
From Morning News Beat:
http://www.morningnewsbeat.com/News/News_Article_Detail_S.las?A=30320&Date=2009-02-09
NYT Story Details Extent of Peanut-Related Salmonella Crisis
In a front page story this morning, the New York Times describes the condition at the Georgia plant operated by Peanut Corp. of America that apparently led to a salmonella outbreak that has sickened more than 19,000 people and killed eight:
“Raw peanuts were stored next to the finished peanut butter. The roaster was not calibrated to kill deadly germs. Dispirited workers on minimum wage, supplied by temp agencies, donned their uniforms at home, potentially dragging contaminants into the plant, which also had rodents. Even the roof of the Peanut Corporation of America plant here in rural southwest Georgia was an obvious risk, given that salmonella thrives in water and the facility should have been kept bone dry.”
And, the Times writes, an examination of the case “reveals a badly frayed food safety net. Interviews and government records show that state and federal inspectors do not require the peanut industry to inform the public - or even the government - of salmonella contamination in its plants. And industry giants like Kellogg used processed peanuts in a variety of products but relied on the factory to perform safety testing and divulge any problems. At the same time, processed peanuts have been finding their way into more and more foods as a low-cost yet tasty additive, making tainted products harder to track.”
Furthermore, the Times reports that “inspecting the plant was the responsibility of Georgia, which like 42 other states is under contract with the Food and Drug Administration to monitor food plants. The agency’s Science Board concluded in 2007 that the agency did not have the capacity to ensure a safe food supply, with domestic businesses under its purview having risen to 65,500 from 51,000 in 2001.
In Georgia, state agriculture inspectors said they were hampered by rising needs and falling budgets … Plant employees said they typically had advance knowledge of state inspections and that last month, when they were tipped off that federal investigators were coming, the employees were told not to answer questions. Where the state had found no major problems, the federal team found many, like the leaky roof, and swab tests showed salmonella living on the plant floors. Plant managers had not decontaminated the peanut butter processing line after detecting salmonella, the federal report shows.
“In examining Peanut Corporation of America’s records, federal investigators discovered that company tests had found salmonella 12 times since 2007. The inspectors said they got the records by invoking a bioterrorism law.” And, making things worse, the company has been accused by the federal government of continuing to ship peanut butter that it knew was contaminated.
KC's View: Clearly, a special corner of hell should be reserved for the guys who ran Peanut Corp. of America…and with every revelation, the temperature of that corner should be increased.
This is just such an utter nightmare. Clearly the federal government needs to exercise greater oversight, but also needs to have a more efficient structure in order to be more effective. Clearly, there needs to be greater transparency and traceability, so that everybody knows what ingredients are in every product.
It is hard to know where to start. But this crisis shows how fundamentally the US food safety infrastructure needs to be changed at virtually every level.
That's fucking criminal. Thank God I don't eat peanut butter products (much).
http://www.morningnewsbeat.com/News/News_Article_Detail_S.las?A=30320&Date=2009-02-09
NYT Story Details Extent of Peanut-Related Salmonella Crisis
In a front page story this morning, the New York Times describes the condition at the Georgia plant operated by Peanut Corp. of America that apparently led to a salmonella outbreak that has sickened more than 19,000 people and killed eight:
“Raw peanuts were stored next to the finished peanut butter. The roaster was not calibrated to kill deadly germs. Dispirited workers on minimum wage, supplied by temp agencies, donned their uniforms at home, potentially dragging contaminants into the plant, which also had rodents. Even the roof of the Peanut Corporation of America plant here in rural southwest Georgia was an obvious risk, given that salmonella thrives in water and the facility should have been kept bone dry.”
And, the Times writes, an examination of the case “reveals a badly frayed food safety net. Interviews and government records show that state and federal inspectors do not require the peanut industry to inform the public - or even the government - of salmonella contamination in its plants. And industry giants like Kellogg used processed peanuts in a variety of products but relied on the factory to perform safety testing and divulge any problems. At the same time, processed peanuts have been finding their way into more and more foods as a low-cost yet tasty additive, making tainted products harder to track.”
Furthermore, the Times reports that “inspecting the plant was the responsibility of Georgia, which like 42 other states is under contract with the Food and Drug Administration to monitor food plants. The agency’s Science Board concluded in 2007 that the agency did not have the capacity to ensure a safe food supply, with domestic businesses under its purview having risen to 65,500 from 51,000 in 2001.
In Georgia, state agriculture inspectors said they were hampered by rising needs and falling budgets … Plant employees said they typically had advance knowledge of state inspections and that last month, when they were tipped off that federal investigators were coming, the employees were told not to answer questions. Where the state had found no major problems, the federal team found many, like the leaky roof, and swab tests showed salmonella living on the plant floors. Plant managers had not decontaminated the peanut butter processing line after detecting salmonella, the federal report shows.
“In examining Peanut Corporation of America’s records, federal investigators discovered that company tests had found salmonella 12 times since 2007. The inspectors said they got the records by invoking a bioterrorism law.” And, making things worse, the company has been accused by the federal government of continuing to ship peanut butter that it knew was contaminated.
KC's View: Clearly, a special corner of hell should be reserved for the guys who ran Peanut Corp. of America…and with every revelation, the temperature of that corner should be increased.
This is just such an utter nightmare. Clearly the federal government needs to exercise greater oversight, but also needs to have a more efficient structure in order to be more effective. Clearly, there needs to be greater transparency and traceability, so that everybody knows what ingredients are in every product.
It is hard to know where to start. But this crisis shows how fundamentally the US food safety infrastructure needs to be changed at virtually every level.
That's fucking criminal. Thank God I don't eat peanut butter products (much).