Peanut Butter Recall for Texas Plant

(CNN) -- The Texas Department of State Health Services on Thursday ordered the recall of all products ever shipped from the Peanut Corporation of America's plant in Plainview, Texas, after discovering dead rodents, rodent excrement and bird feathers in the plant.

The order, which applies to products shipped since the plant opened nearly four years ago, came a day after the discovery of filth in a crawl space above a production area during a health services inspection, the department said in a news release.

Inspectors also reported that the plant's ventilation system was pulling debris "from the infested crawl space into production areas of the plant resulting in the adulteration of exposed food products," the release said.

Officials at the plant, which opened in March 2005, voluntarily stopped operations Monday night. Under the order, they are not allowed to resume operations without health services approval.

The company's peanut butter and peanut paste products produced at its plant in Blakely, Georgia, have been linked to a nationwide outbreak of salmonella poisoning that has affected 600 people, killing nine.

Earlier today, Peanut Corporation of America filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy Friday in federal court in Lynchburg,Virginia. In its filing, the company said its assets were between $1 million and $10 million, and its liabilities were between $1 million and $10 million.

The salmonella outbreak so far has sickened more than 630 people and may have caused the deaths of nine people. It has led to one of the largest product recalls in the nation’s history, with more than 2,000 products recalled thus far, according to the FDA.

Under bankruptcy liquidation, creditors, including those who had filed damage claims against the company would not be paid in full for their damages. Instead they would be paid some fraction of their claims. Future lawsuits filed against the company could also be dealt with in the bankruptcy.

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plez sez: i wonder if this recall affects that Reese's Peanut Butter Cup i had earlier today?!?

lettuce. spinach. tomatoes. now peanuts... soon we won't be able to eat anything!

and now PCA is going to hide behind bankruptcy to get out of paying for the damages done by their tainted goobers. some have cited that in China the president of companies like this get the death penalty... that may the correct move, since this product is predominantly consumed by children.

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Read the P.I.S.S.D. blog entry about peanut butter recall ramifications.

Read the CNN.com article about possible salmonella contamination at Texas peanut processing plant.

Read the CNN.com article about the plant shut down in Texas.

Read the AJC.com article about the peanut processor filing for bankruptcy.

Read the CNN.com article about how the Peanut Corp. of America filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy.

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To-may-to, To-mah-to: They're Safe Again!

Yesterday, the Food and Drug Administration said that tomatoes are again safe to eat, just a few weeks after they were blamed for a salmonella outbreak in the United States and Canada.

But keep your guard up, because raw jalepeno and serrano peppers are now linked to the outbreak.

Actually, the source of the outbreak still isn't known - and 20 to 30 reports of the illness are coming in per day - but the FDA said the epidemic is "waning." The FDA hasn't determined whether tomatoes were a source of the outbreak, but it has determined that tomatoes currently in fields and stores are safe.

Salmonella Saintpaul - a rare form of the salmonella bacteria - has infected more than 1,190 people in 42 states, the District of Columbia and Canada since April, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. About 370 of those people became ill on or after June 1, the CDC said.

Read the CNN.com article on the FDA lifting of the ban on tomatoes here.

Read the plezWorld post about tomatoes and the salmonella outbreak here.


plez sez: let's get this straight: tomatoes are NOW safe to eat, BUT we're not sure if they were ever the culprits in the salmonella outbreak. we're not even sure if the jalepenos are the culprits. but we do know that a shitload (pardon the expression) of people got poisoned and spent an inordinant amount of time on the crapper because of it...

just wondering out loud: next time i order that burger, should i tell them to hold the tomatoes?

US Food Supply Compromised - Tomatoes & Salmonella

Earlier today, as I pondered my choices for lunch, I decided to roll through the Wendy's drive-thru for a chicken club sandwich (hold the mustard) and a bottle of water. I rolled up to the first window to pay for my order and took a passing glance at a memo about tomatoes and sandwiches. Didn't think much of it until I got my food and started to chow down on my lunch... there wasn't the wobbly slice of tomato that I usually pull out and discard in the bag with the french fries.

WTF!... where is the friggin' tomato?!?

I ambled home and dove headlong into Google. What was going on with the tomatoes? To my surprise, the FDA and CDC have confirmed that an outbreak of salmonella food poisoning first linked to uncooked tomatoes has now been reported in nine states. Lab tests have confirmed 40 illnesses in Texas and New Mexico as the same type of salmonella, right down to the genetic fingerprint.

An investigation by Texas and New Mexico health authorities and the Indian Health Service tied those cases to uncooked, raw, large tomatoes. At least 17 people in Texas and New Mexico have been hospitalized, none have died. In Texas and New Mexico, raw large tomatoes — including Roma and red round tomatoes — were found to be a common factor in the 40 illnesses.

Well, today, not only Wendy's, but McDonald's and just about every fast food joint worth its salt has stopped serving sliced tomatoes on all of its sandwiches in the US until the source of the salmonella has been identified.

The FDA has broadened its list of tomatoes to avoid because of a salmonella outbreak that has sickened at least 145 people in 16 states since the middle of April.

Salmonella bacteria can cause diarrhea (which may be bloody), fever, nausea, vomiting, and abdominal pain. Serious and potentially fatal cases are more likely in young children, frail or elderly people, and people with weak immune systems.

Read the WebMD article on the CDC ban on tomatoes here.

Read the Yahoo article on salmonella tainted tomatoes here.

Read the New York Times article on McDonald's tomato ban here.


plez sez: when i was a mere toddler, no more than two years old, i would frolic in our family garden, chasing our pet rabbits and occasionally settling down with a ripe red tomato plucked from the vine. of course, i don't remember doing it, but there are a number of pictures in the family photo album documenting such activity.

i guess i should clarify the fact that i don't always throw out the tomatoes from my sandwiches, just the wobbly and soggy ones that taste slimy in my mouth. UGH! in the coming weeks, i will more than likely start to miss the "half fruit/half vegetable" in my submarine sandwich (does anyone call it a wedge?) or as an addition to my wendy's burger. makes me wonder what the heck is going on with our food supply.

salmonella is a bacteria that passes from the feces of people or animals to other people or other animals. and that is the weird thing, i've always associated this type of outbreak with meat products (stuff from animals). i'm wondering how this animal germ is making its way into vegetables and fruits (in the last two years, there have been salmonella outbreaks in raw spinach and lettuce).

i once got food poisoning (salmonella) from some undercooked chicken. the symptoms are horrendous and i don't wish food poisoning on my worst enemy. now these germs have been introduced to the types of foods that are not normally cooked which means hundreds or thousands of people can get sick before anyone recognizes the trend or the cause. this makes one wary about eating raw salads these days (even though the cdc says that the raw cherry tomatoes are safe)... go figure.