FDA Opens Criminal Probe of Peanut Co.; Obama Calls for Agency Overhaul
The federal Food and Drug Administration has opened a criminal investigation into a closely held Virginia-based company that has been blamed for a salmonella outbreak that allegedly sickened more than 500 people and killed eight.
Although Peanut Corp. of America’s own tests in 2007 and 2008 showed that salmonella was present in the peanut butter and peanut paste it sent to commercial customers from its Blakely, Ga., plant, the company continued to ship them, reports Bloomberg. Some 800 Peanut Corp. products have now been recalled; major supermarket peanut butter brands, however, weren’t affected.
The company wasn’t required to share its internal tests with the FDA, and the FDA tests only a small amount of the nation’s food products, as an earlier ABAJournal.com post discusses.
Several families have filed suit against the company over the salmonella outbreak.
In an interview broadcast on NBC’s Today, President Barack Obama said “we’re going to be doing a complete review of FDA operations” because the agency hasn’t been able “to catch some of these things as quickly as I expect them to,” Bloomberg recounts.
Additional coverage:
Washington Post: “Inspection of Georgia Peanut Plant In October Yielded Few Violations”
Am Law Daily: “McGuire Says No Thanks to Peanut Corporation of America”
