Peanut Butter Salmonella Scare & Peanut Butter Recall Update

Did you know that just weeks after it was linked to peanut butter salmonella and one of the largest food recalls in US history Peanut Corporation of America (PCA) has filed for liquidation?

The fallout continues to rise. The death toll currently stands at 9, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in Atlanta.

To date there is believed to be a total of 637 illnesses linked to the peanut butter salmonella outbreak. A total of more than 2000 products have also been recalled.

Those recalled products while manufactured by other companies; are thought to contain peanuts, peanut butter or peanut paste from PCA.

According to Gordon Gibb, a writer with LawyersandSettlements.com, the owner of PCA, together with the plant manager at the now-shuttered production facility in Blakely, Georgia appeared late this week at Congressional Oversight hearings, but refused to testify.

While both men pleaded The Fifth Amendment, it was reported that a hearings participant asked the two men if they would feel comfortable eating some samples of PCA-produced peanut butter that had been supplied to the hearing. The two men were reportedly shaken at the invitation.

PCA filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy protection the next day, writes Mr. Gibb.

The peanut butter salmonella recall story has taken on two different themes since the story first came to light–the failure of a manufacturer to maintain proper conditions, and practices conducive for managing safety protocols at their facilities–and that of inspectors, who cleared plants that contained obvious problems.

“This latest recall has left consumer advocates screaming at Congress for change,” says Mr. Gibb. “The Obama Administration has promised reform of the country’s food safety net which, bedraggled with large holes, is in desperate need of repair.”

For more details on the peanut butter salmonella scare and related peanut butter recall, please visit the link on my profile page.