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	<title>Personal Injury Attorneys &#187; Peanut Corporation of America</title>
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		<title>Historic food safety legislation passes House</title>
		<link>http://www.southerninjurylawyer.com/news/2009/08/03/historic-food-safety-legislation-passes-house/</link>
		<comments>http://www.southerninjurylawyer.com/news/2009/08/03/historic-food-safety-legislation-passes-house/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Mon, 03 Aug 2009 18:41:58 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Kurt Niland</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[News]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Barack Obama]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[consumer federation of america]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[contaminated peanut butter]]></category>
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		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.southerninjurylawyer.com/?p=1559</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[This week the House of Representatives passed legislation representing what would be the largest overhaul of the food safety system in American history. The measure passed the House 283 to 142 with nearly all Democrats and about half of Republicans voting in favor. The Senate is expected to review the bill in the fall after [...]<p>SOURCE: <a href="http://www.southerninjurylawyer.com">Personal Injury Attorneys</a> &rsaquo; <a href="http://www.southerninjurylawyer.com/news/2009/08/03/historic-food-safety-legislation-passes-house/">Historic food safety legislation passes House</a></p>
]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><a href="http://www.southerninjurylawyer.com/media/2009/08/johndingell.jpg"><img class="alignleft size-thumbnail wp-image-1564" title="johndingell" src="http://www.southerninjurylawyer.com/media/2009/08/johndingell-100x100.jpg" alt="johndingell 100x100" width="100" height="100" /></a>This week the House of Representatives passed legislation representing what would be the <strong>largest overhaul</strong> of the <strong>food <a href="http://www.southerninjurylawyer.com/tag/safety/" class="st_tag internal_tag" rel="tag" title="Posts tagged with safety">safety</a></strong> system in American history. The measure passed the House 283 to 142 with nearly all Democrats and about half of Republicans voting in favor. The Senate is expected to review the bill in the fall after its recess.<span id="more-1559"></span></p>
<p>Food <a href="http://www.southerninjurylawyer.com/tag/safety/" class="st_tag internal_tag" rel="tag" title="Posts tagged with safety">safety</a> has been a top priority for the U.S. government in modern times, but a slew of <strong>recent <a href="http://www.southerninjurylawyer.com/tag/salmonella/" title="" rel="external">salmonella</a> and E. Coli outbreaks</strong> threw open the curtains on a food <a href="http://www.southerninjurylawyer.com/tag/safety/" class="st_tag internal_tag" rel="tag" title="Posts tagged with safety">safety</a> system that has become <strong>dangerously inadequate</strong> and lax across the board, from regulation to inspection to enforcement.</p>
<p>John Dingell (D-MI), who sponsored the bill, said it would “fundamentally change the way in which we ensure the <a href="http://www.southerninjurylawyer.com/tag/safety/" class="st_tag internal_tag" rel="tag" title="Posts tagged with safety">safety</a> of our food supply.”</p>
<p>The bill would give the <strong><a href="http://www.fda.gov">Food and Drug Administration</a></strong>, which regulates 80 percent of the nation’s food supply, <strong>more power to enforce</strong> food <a href="http://www.southerninjurylawyer.com/tag/safety/" class="st_tag internal_tag" rel="tag" title="Posts tagged with safety">safety</a> regulations. For instance, the FDA will be able to <strong>order recalls</strong> of contaminated food products. Currently, the agency only has the power to ask companies to <a href="http://www.southerninjurylawyer.com/tag/recall/" class="st_tag internal_tag" rel="tag" title="Posts tagged with recall">recall</a> <strong>contaminated products</strong>.</p>
<p>The bill would also <strong>increase the agency’s responsibilities</strong> by requiring it to inspect high-risk food processing plants every 6 to 12 months. Lower-risk plants would be inspected once every three years, while food storage warehouses would be inspected once every five years.</p>
<p>Under the current system, it was possible for some plants to run unlicensed and uninspected for years. For example, the <a href="http://www.southerninjurylawyer.com/news/2009/02/07/peanut-corps-texas-plant-ran-unlicensed-uninspected-since-2005/">peanut processing plant in Plainview Texas</a>, which was part of the conglomerate that caused a <strong>massive salmonella outbreak</strong> last winter, didn’t have a license to operate and was never inspected by state or federal authorities. The outbreak was one of many in the last 3 years, drawing the ire of many legislators and compelling the Obama administration to vow a reform the federal food <a href="http://www.southerninjurylawyer.com/tag/safety/" class="st_tag internal_tag" rel="tag" title="Posts tagged with safety">safety</a> system.</p>
<p>Other provisions in the bill call for stricter and more thorough inspections of <strong>imported food</strong>, rules that will make the records of food processing companies <strong>more transparent</strong> to federal authorities, and a requirement that food companies establish <strong><a href="http://www.southerninjurylawyer.com/tag/safety/" class="st_tag internal_tag" rel="tag" title="Posts tagged with safety">safety</a> plans</strong> aimed at slashing the incidences of contamination and food-borne illnesses.</p>
<p>In addition to more frequent and thorough inspections, the bill will require the FDA to develop a better way to quickly <strong>identifying the source of an outbreak</strong>. Such a plan would involve creating a <strong>tracking system</strong> for all food products, including ingredients.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.consumerfed.org/pdfs/CFA_Praises_House_for_Passage_of_Food_Safety_Enhancement_Act_7_30_09.pdf">The Consumer Federation of America</a> praised the House on its passage of the bill, telling the <em><a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/31/us/politics/31fda.html?hp">New York Times</a></em> that “the FDA has no specific authority right now, or responsibility, to prevent food-borne illness.”</p>
<p>“We hope the day will come when <strong>serious illness or death</strong> caused by contaminated food will be a thing of the past and we can feed our families without fear that the food carries a dreaded disease,” the federation said.</p>
<p>SOURCE: <a href="http://www.southerninjurylawyer.com">Personal Injury Attorneys</a> &rsaquo; <a href="http://www.southerninjurylawyer.com/news/2009/08/03/historic-food-safety-legislation-passes-house/">Historic food safety legislation passes House</a></p>
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		<title>FDA eyes pistachios as it receives reports of salmonella poisoning</title>
		<link>http://www.southerninjurylawyer.com/news/2009/03/31/fda-eyes-pistachios-as-it-receives-reports-of-salmonella-poisoning/</link>
		<comments>http://www.southerninjurylawyer.com/news/2009/03/31/fda-eyes-pistachios-as-it-receives-reports-of-salmonella-poisoning/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Tue, 31 Mar 2009 19:49:56 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Kurt Niland</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[News]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[recalled products]]></category>
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		<category><![CDATA[peanut]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[peanut butter]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[peanut butter recall]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Peanut Corporation of America]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[pistachios]]></category>
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		<category><![CDATA[Setton]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Setton Pistachios]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Terra Bella]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.southerninjurylawyer.com/?p=827</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[This week, Food and Drug Administration officials issued an alert warning consumers to avoid eating pistachios and food containing pistachios while it investigates the source of another possible salmonella outbreak.
The FDA announced that Setton International Foods, Inc., a division of Terra Bella Inc., would voluntarily recall approximately 2 million pounds of roasted pistachios that have [...]<p>SOURCE: <a href="http://www.southerninjurylawyer.com">Personal Injury Attorneys</a> &rsaquo; <a href="http://www.southerninjurylawyer.com/news/2009/03/31/fda-eyes-pistachios-as-it-receives-reports-of-salmonella-poisoning/">FDA eyes pistachios as it receives reports of salmonella poisoning</a></p>
]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><a href="http://www.southerninjurylawyer.com/media/2009/03/pistachios.jpg"><img class="alignleft size-thumbnail wp-image-833" title="pistachios" src="http://www.southerninjurylawyer.com/media/2009/03/pistachios-100x100.jpg" alt="pistachios 100x100" width="100" height="100" /></a>This week, <a href="http://www.fda.gov/">Food and Drug Administration</a> officials issued an alert warning consumers to avoid eating pistachios and food containing <strong>pistachios</strong> while it investigates the source of <strong>another possible <a href="http://www.southerninjurylawyer.com/tag/salmonella/" title="" rel="external">salmonella</a> outbreak</strong>.</p>
<p>The FDA announced that <strong>Setton International Foods, Inc.,</strong> a division of Terra Bella Inc., would voluntarily <a href="http://www.southerninjurylawyer.com/tag/recall/" class="st_tag internal_tag" rel="tag" title="Posts tagged with recall">recall</a> approximately 2 million pounds of roasted pistachios that have been shipping since last fall. The investigation and <a href="http://www.southerninjurylawyer.com/tag/recall/" class="st_tag internal_tag" rel="tag" title="Posts tagged with recall">recall</a> come after two people contacted the FDA complaining of symptoms of <strong>salmonella poisoning</strong> after eating the nuts. Although the link has not yet been confirmed, the plant where the pistachios were processed temporarily shut down last week.<span id="more-827"></span></p>
<p>The FDA was first alerted to a potential problem when a representative of Kraft Foods informed the agency that its Back to Nature Trail Mix tested positive for<strong> salmonella contamination</strong>. The company identified <a href="http://www.settonfarms.com/">Setton</a> pistachios as the source of the contamination and issued a <a href="http://www.southerninjurylawyer.com/tag/recall/" class="st_tag internal_tag" rel="tag" title="Posts tagged with recall">recall</a>.</p>
<p>Dr. David Acheson, the FDA’s assistant commissioner for food <a href="http://www.southerninjurylawyer.com/tag/safety/" class="st_tag internal_tag" rel="tag" title="Posts tagged with safety">safety</a>, said that consumers should avoid eating but hold onto any pistachio products. “The number of products that are going to be <strong>recalled</strong> over the coming days will grow, simply because these pistachio nuts have then been repackaged into consumer-level containers,&#8221; he told the <a href="http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/S/SALMONELLA_PISTACHIOS?SITE=CARIE&amp;SECTION=HOME&amp;TEMPLATE=DEFAULT">Associated Press</a>.</p>
<p>According to the <a href="http://www.fda.gov/pistachios/">FDA advisory</a>, &#8220;the contamination involves <strong>multiple strains of Salmonella</strong>. Salmonella can cause <strong>serious and sometimes fatal infections</strong> in young children, frail or elderly people, and others with weakened immune systems. Thus far, <strong>several illnesses</strong> have been reported by consumers that may be associated with the pistachios.&#8221;</p>
<p>The 2 million pounds of possibly contaminated pistachios constitute a very small fraction of the 278 million pounds of pistachios harvested in California last year. California is the second largest grower of pistachios in the world, just behind Iran.</p>
<p>Officials believe that the contaminated nuts entered the consumer market in <strong>31 states</strong>. A representative of Setton Pistachio said the <a href="http://www.southerninjurylawyer.com/tag/recall/" class="st_tag internal_tag" rel="tag" title="Posts tagged with recall">recall</a> applies only to a specific lot of both in the shell and shelled roasted pistachios.</p>
<p>Jeff Farrar of the California Department of Public Health said that it may take weeks to determine specifically which products the possibly contaminated nuts affects. Setton packaged the pistachios in 2,000-pound containers and shipped them to <strong>36 wholesalers</strong> throughout the U.S.</p>
<p>&#8220;It will be safe to assume based on the volume that this will be an ingredient in a lot of different products, and that may possibly include things like ice cream and cake mixes,&#8221; Farrar told the AP. &#8220;The firm is already turning around trucks in transit to bring those back to the facility.&#8221;</p>
<p>The outbreak comes on the heels of one of the country’s largest <strong>salmonella outbreaks</strong> and product recalls in history. Last winter, the <strong><a href="http://www.southerninjurylawyer.com/tag/peanut-corporation-of-america/" title="" rel="external">Peanut Corporation of America</a></strong> knowingly distributed contaminated peanut butter products to food manufacturers and institutions throughout the U.S., which led to an outbreak of <strong>salmonella poisoning</strong> in nearly every state.</p>
<p>The FDA has since come under fire for failing to adequately protect the public from such <strong>outbreaks</strong>. Agency leaders have been working to “drastically compress” the timeframe of <strong>salmonella</strong> <strong>detection</strong> from 2 weeks to 2 days, stressing the need for federal agencies to work with each other in a concerted effort to protect the public’s health.</p>
<p>SOURCE: <a href="http://www.southerninjurylawyer.com">Personal Injury Attorneys</a> &rsaquo; <a href="http://www.southerninjurylawyer.com/news/2009/03/31/fda-eyes-pistachios-as-it-receives-reports-of-salmonella-poisoning/">FDA eyes pistachios as it receives reports of salmonella poisoning</a></p>
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		<title>FDA report reveals peanut plant&#8217;s carelessness in food safety</title>
		<link>http://www.southerninjurylawyer.com/news/2009/03/05/fda-report-reveals-peanut-plants-carelessness-in-food-safety/</link>
		<comments>http://www.southerninjurylawyer.com/news/2009/03/05/fda-report-reveals-peanut-plants-carelessness-in-food-safety/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Thu, 05 Mar 2009 14:00:45 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Kurt Niland</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[News]]></category>
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		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.southerninjurylawyer.com/?p=686</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Last month, inspectors from the Food and Drug Administration visited the Plainview, Texas, peanut processing plant owned and operated by the Peanut Corporation of America. The inspection was ordered after investigators linked a salmonella outbreak that sickened nearly 700 people in nearly every state to the Peanut Corp’s plant in Blakely, Georgia. Shortly after the [...]<p>SOURCE: <a href="http://www.southerninjurylawyer.com">Personal Injury Attorneys</a> &rsaquo; <a href="http://www.southerninjurylawyer.com/news/2009/03/05/fda-report-reveals-peanut-plants-carelessness-in-food-safety/">FDA report reveals peanut plant&#8217;s carelessness in food safety</a></p>
]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><a href="http://www.southerninjurylawyer.com/media/2009/03/plainview-peanut.jpg"><img class="alignleft size-thumbnail wp-image-692" title="plainview-peanut" src="http://www.southerninjurylawyer.com/media/2009/03/plainview-peanut-150x150.jpg" alt="plainview peanut 150x150" width="150" height="150" /></a>Last month, inspectors from the <a href="http://www.fda.gov/&lt;br &gt;&lt;/a&gt;">Food and Drug Administration</a> visited the Plainview, Texas, peanut processing plant owned and operated by the <strong><a href="http://www.southerninjurylawyer.com/tag/peanut-corporation-of-america/" title="" rel="external">Peanut Corporation of America</a></strong>. The inspection was ordered after investigators linked a <strong><a href="http://www.southerninjurylawyer.com/tag/salmonella/" title="" rel="external">salmonella</a> outbreak</strong> that sickened nearly 700 people in nearly every state to the Peanut Corp’s plant in Blakely, Georgia. Shortly after the outbreak, news broke that the company’s sister plant in Texas plant actually operated unlicensed and uninspected for years. Inspectors rushed in.<span id="more-686"></span></p>
<p>What they found at the plant defines corporate <strong>irresponsibility</strong> and underscores the shortcomings of government agencies on both federal and state levels in doing their job to serve and protect the public.</p>
<p>Some of the items on the FDA report include:</p>
<ul>
<li>A dead mouse stuck to a glue trap. &#8220;The mouse appeared to have died recently,&#8221; the report reads.</li>
<li>“What appeared to be rodent excreta pellets too numerous to count were observed in the cabinet under the sink in the south most kitchen.&#8221;</li>
<li>“In the cabinet north of the dishwasher &#8230; I counted approximately 27 rodent excreta pellets.&#8221;</li>
<li>&#8220;Another dead mouse was found just outside the south most doorway of the kitchen. &#8230; This mouse also appeared to have recently died.&#8221;</li>
<li>&#8220;What appeared to be a bird&#8217;s nest was observed in the wall/ceiling metal support beam at southwest corner of the mezzanine area.&#8221;</li>
<li>Processing machines had buildup of &#8220;gooey&#8221; peanut paste.</li>
<li>Numerous roof leaks.</li>
</ul>
<p>Aside from hundreds of sick people and as many as 9 deaths, the irresponsibility that caused the <strong>salmonella outbreak</strong> had an enormous economic impact on individuals and companies alike. Thousands of products were pulled from the shelves, plants closed, employees became jobless, and two towns worried about their future. Even peanut butter manufacturers and other food companies that did no business with the Peanut Corp. saw a sharp decline in revenue as the public became fearful of all peanut products.</p>
<p>The peanut <a href="http://www.southerninjurylawyer.com/tag/recall/" class="st_tag internal_tag" rel="tag" title="Posts tagged with recall">recall</a> is <strong>one of the largest recalls in US history </strong>and the latest in a series of recalls that included contaminated lettuce, spinach, tomatoes, and peppers. The recalls have diminished public confidence in the effectiveness of the FDA and renewed calls in Congress to reform the agency.</p>
<p>Despite the peanut <a href="http://www.southerninjurylawyer.com/tag/recall/" class="st_tag internal_tag" rel="tag" title="Posts tagged with recall">recall</a>, the <a href="http://www.cdc.gov/">Centers for Disease Control and Prevention</a> (CDC) reports that the outbreak continues as people continue to consume contaminated products.</p>
<p>Source: <a href="http://www.reuters.com/article/healthNews/idUSTRE5226LW20090304">http://www.reuters.com/article/healthNews/idUSTRE5226LW20090304</a></p>
<p>SOURCE: <a href="http://www.southerninjurylawyer.com">Personal Injury Attorneys</a> &rsaquo; <a href="http://www.southerninjurylawyer.com/news/2009/03/05/fda-report-reveals-peanut-plants-carelessness-in-food-safety/">FDA report reveals peanut plant&#8217;s carelessness in food safety</a></p>
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		<title>Peanut Corporation of America closes for good</title>
		<link>http://www.southerninjurylawyer.com/news/2009/02/16/peanut-corporation-of-america-closes-for-good/</link>
		<comments>http://www.southerninjurylawyer.com/news/2009/02/16/peanut-corporation-of-america-closes-for-good/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Mon, 16 Feb 2009 14:37:40 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Kurt Niland</dc:creator>
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		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.southerninjurylawyer.com/?p=600</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Peanut Corporation of America has filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Virginia following the recall of peanut products produced in the company’s Blakely, Georgia, and Plainview, Texas, facilities.
&#8220;It&#8217;s regrettable, but it&#8217;s inevitable with the events of last month,&#8221; Andrew S. Goldstein, the bankruptcy attorney who filed the petition, told the Associated [...]<p>SOURCE: <a href="http://www.southerninjurylawyer.com">Personal Injury Attorneys</a> &rsaquo; <a href="http://www.southerninjurylawyer.com/news/2009/02/16/peanut-corporation-of-america-closes-for-good/">Peanut Corporation of America closes for good</a></p>
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			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><a href="http://www.peanutcorp.com/"></a><a href="http://www.southerninjurylawyer.com/media/2009/02/peanut-corp-w-police-vehicle.jpg"><img class="alignleft size-thumbnail wp-image-603" title="peanut-corp-w-police-vehicle" src="http://www.southerninjurylawyer.com/media/2009/02/peanut-corp-w-police-vehicle-150x150.jpg" alt="peanut corp w police vehicle 150x150" width="150" height="150" /></a><a href="http://www.southerninjurylawyer.com/tag/peanut-corporation-of-america/" title="" rel="external">Peanut Corporation of America</a> has filed for <strong>Chapter 7 bankruptcy </strong>in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Virginia following the <strong><a href="http://www.southerninjurylawyer.com/tag/recall/" class="st_tag internal_tag" rel="tag" title="Posts tagged with recall">recall</a></strong> of peanut products produced in the company’s Blakely, Georgia, and Plainview, Texas, facilities.<span id="more-600"></span></p>
<p>&#8220;It&#8217;s regrettable, but it&#8217;s inevitable with the events of last month,&#8221; Andrew S. Goldstein, the bankruptcy <a href="http://www.southerninjurylawyer.com/tag/attorney/" class="st_tag internal_tag" rel="tag" title="Posts tagged with attorney">attorney</a> who filed the petition, told the Associated Press.</p>
<p>Investigators have traced the national <strong><a href="http://www.southerninjurylawyer.com/tag/salmonella/" title="" rel="external">salmonella</a> outbreak</strong> to peanuts produced by the Peanut Corp. in its Blakely, Georgia, factory. They estimate that the contaminated peanut butter has sickened 630 people and caused the deaths of 9.</p>
<p>According to the AP, the board “had considered a Chapter 11 bankruptcy, but decided on <strong>outright liquidation</strong>” instead. The <a href="http://www.southerninjurylawyer.com/tag/recall/" class="st_tag internal_tag" rel="tag" title="Posts tagged with recall">recall</a> has financially devastated the company.</p>
<p>The <a href="http://www.southerninjurylawyer.com/tag/recall/" class="st_tag internal_tag" rel="tag" title="Posts tagged with recall">recall</a> of Peanut Corp.’s peanuts led to further recalls of more than 2,000 other products that incorporated the possibly contaminated peanut butter from the Peanut Corp. Recalls of all the affected products amounted to <strong>one of the largest collective recalls</strong> in American history.</p>
<p>More than a dozen people affected by the contaminated peanut butter have filed <strong>civil lawsuits</strong>. Food <a href="http://www.southerninjurylawyer.com/tag/safety/" class="st_tag internal_tag" rel="tag" title="Posts tagged with safety">safety</a> attorneys remained optimistic that victims and their families would still be compensated despite the bankruptcy filing. The lawyers attached to the lawsuits will request they be allowed to proceed anyway.</p>
<p>The Peanut Corp. started in 1977 when the Parnell family turned a peanut roasting business into a $30 million peanut processing operation. The Parnells sold the company in 1995. In 2000, Steve Parnell began building another peanut processing company when he bought plants in Texas, Georgia, and Virginia.</p>
<p>The Blakely, Georgia, plant stopped operations when investigators from the <a href="http://www.fda.gov/">Food and Drug Administration</a> found that the Peanut Corp. sold and shipped peanut butter that tested positive for <strong>salmonella</strong>. The findings prompted an investigation of the Plainview, Texas, plant, where officials found similar problems.</p>
<p>Texas health officials on Friday ordered that all peanut products ever made at the Plainview facility be recalled after finding <strong>serious health risks</strong> in the plant. According to the <a href="http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090213/ap_on_bi_ge/salmonella_outbreak_bankruptcy">AP report</a>, “officials said they discovered rodents, feces and feathers in a crawl space above a production area. An air handling system sucked debris from the crawl space into an area where peanuts are processed.”</p>
<p>SOURCE: <a href="http://www.southerninjurylawyer.com">Personal Injury Attorneys</a> &rsaquo; <a href="http://www.southerninjurylawyer.com/news/2009/02/16/peanut-corporation-of-america-closes-for-good/">Peanut Corporation of America closes for good</a></p>
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		<title>Peanut Corp. halts its Texas operations as FBI joins investigation</title>
		<link>http://www.southerninjurylawyer.com/news/2009/02/11/peanut-corp-halts-its-texas-operations-as-fbi-joins-investigation/</link>
		<comments>http://www.southerninjurylawyer.com/news/2009/02/11/peanut-corp-halts-its-texas-operations-as-fbi-joins-investigation/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Wed, 11 Feb 2009 18:20:13 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Kurt Niland</dc:creator>
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		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.southerninjurylawyer.com/?p=580</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Peanut Corporation of America has shut its Plainview, Texas, plant as federal and state officials continue their investigations into the questionable practices that caused a national salmonella outbreak, spurred one of the country’s largest food recalls in history, killed 8 people, and sickened hundreds more. The Peanut Corp. voluntarily shut down its Texas operations after [...]<p>SOURCE: <a href="http://www.southerninjurylawyer.com">Personal Injury Attorneys</a> &rsaquo; <a href="http://www.southerninjurylawyer.com/news/2009/02/11/peanut-corp-halts-its-texas-operations-as-fbi-joins-investigation/">Peanut Corp. halts its Texas operations as FBI joins investigation</a></p>
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			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><strong><a href="http://peanutcorp.com"><img class="alignleft size-thumbnail wp-image-445" title="peanut-butter-recall" src="http://www.southerninjurylawyer.com/media/2009/01/peanut-butter-recall-150x150.jpg" alt="peanut butter recall 150x150" width="150" height="150" />Peanut Corporation of America</a></strong> has shut its Plainview, Texas, plant as federal and state officials continue their investigations into the questionable practices that caused a national <strong><a href="http://www.southerninjurylawyer.com/tag/salmonella/" title="" rel="external">salmonella</a> outbreak</strong>, spurred one of the country’s largest food recalls in history, killed 8 people, and sickened hundreds more. The Peanut Corp. voluntarily shut down its Texas operations after lab tests indicated the presence of <strong>salmonella bacteria</strong> in some sample products, according to the <a href="http://www.dshs.state.tx.us/">Texas Department of State Health Services</a>.<span id="more-580"></span></p>
<p>The Texas plant, operated as Plainview Peanut Company, LLC, produces peanut meal, granulated peanuts, and dry roasted peanuts. None of the possibly contaminated products appear to have reached consumers.</p>
<p>Investigators from the <a href="http://www.fda.gov/">U.S. Food and Drug Administration</a> have been conducting a criminal probe of the company. On Tuesday, Reuters reported that the <a href="http://www.reuters.com/article/healthNews/idUSTRE51880L20090210">FBI has joined the investigation</a> in a support capacity, providing its resources in assistance to the FDA. Dee Rybiski, a spokeswoman for the FBI field offices in Richmond, Virginia, told Reuters that “there were simultaneous searches of the different locations,” including, she confirmed, Peanut Corp.&#8217;s headquarters in Lynchburg, Virginia.</p>
<p>In mid-February of 2007, the FDA announced a <a href="http://www.southerninjurylawyer.com/tag/recall/" class="st_tag internal_tag" rel="tag" title="Posts tagged with recall">recall</a> of certain batches of Peter Pan peanut butter because of reported salmonella poisoning. Other salmonella outbreaks have occurred since, sparking <strong>massive recalls </strong>of spinach, tomatoes, lettuce, and peppers and rattling consumer confidence in the <a href="http://www.southerninjurylawyer.com/tag/safety/" class="st_tag internal_tag" rel="tag" title="Posts tagged with safety">safety</a> of the nation’s food supply.</p>
<p>The salmonella outbreaks have re-energized efforts to reform the FDA, which the<a href="http://www.gao.gov/"> Government Accountability Office</a> considers to be afflicted with inconsistent oversight, ineffective coordination, and inefficient in its use of resources. Consumer groups, certain members of Congress, and the Obama administration have all echoed calls to reform the FDA.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">The latest salmonella outbreak is also proving to be a disaster for peanut processors whose products aren’t included in the <a href="http://www.southerninjurylawyer.com/tag/recall/" class="st_tag internal_tag" rel="tag" title="Posts tagged with recall">recall</a> but are affected by it, and for the peanut industry in general. Sales of safe peanut butter have been dropped 25% since the salmonella outbreak.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">&#8220;These things kind of spook consumers,&#8221; said Bob Goldin of Technomic Inc, a Chicago-based food industry consulting firm, to <a href="http://www.reuters.com/article/rbssFoodProcessing/idUSN0953800520090209">Reuters</a>.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">The total damage caused by one company cutting corners and trying to save a few bucks may be impossible to quantify in the end.</p>
<p>SOURCE: <a href="http://www.southerninjurylawyer.com">Personal Injury Attorneys</a> &rsaquo; <a href="http://www.southerninjurylawyer.com/news/2009/02/11/peanut-corp-halts-its-texas-operations-as-fbi-joins-investigation/">Peanut Corp. halts its Texas operations as FBI joins investigation</a></p>
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		<title>Case worsens against Peanut Corp. tied to salmonella outbreak</title>
		<link>http://www.southerninjurylawyer.com/news/2009/02/09/case-worsens-against-peanut-corp-tied-to-salmonella-outbreak/</link>
		<comments>http://www.southerninjurylawyer.com/news/2009/02/09/case-worsens-against-peanut-corp-tied-to-salmonella-outbreak/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Mon, 09 Feb 2009 19:37:57 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Kurt Niland</dc:creator>
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		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.southerninjurylawyer.com/?p=565</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Federal officials have been reporting that that the Peanut Corporation of America had salmonella-contaminated peanut butter retested in an apparent effort to obtain negative results. however, this week the Food and Drug Administration corrected its report, saying that in some cases the peanut processing plant in Blakely, Georgia, didn’t wait for results of the second [...]<p>SOURCE: <a href="http://www.southerninjurylawyer.com">Personal Injury Attorneys</a> &rsaquo; <a href="http://www.southerninjurylawyer.com/news/2009/02/09/case-worsens-against-peanut-corp-tied-to-salmonella-outbreak/">Case worsens against Peanut Corp. tied to salmonella outbreak</a></p>
]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><img class="alignleft size-thumbnail wp-image-571" title="peanut-corp-sign" src="http://www.southerninjurylawyer.com/media/2009/02/peanut-corp-sign-150x150.jpg" alt="peanut corp sign 150x150" width="150" height="150" />Federal officials have been reporting that that the <a href="http://www.peanutcorp.com/">Peanut Corporation of America</a> had <strong><a href="http://www.southerninjurylawyer.com/tag/salmonella/" title="" rel="external">salmonella</a>-contaminated</strong> peanut butter retested in an apparent effort to obtain negative results. however, this week the <a href="http://www.fda.gov/">Food and Drug Administration</a> corrected its report, saying that in some cases the peanut processing plant in Blakely, Georgia, didn’t wait for results of the second tests before sending shipments of peanut butter. In other cases, independent labs hired by the Peanut Corp. found <strong>salmonella</strong> in some peanut butter, but the company shipped it out anyway, without retesting.<span id="more-565"></span></p>
<p>These latest findings indicate that the Peanut Corporation was either grossly negligent or, more likely, that some of its decision makers were engaging in criminal business practices. Federal law prohibits producing and shipping food under conditions that could <strong>jeopardize the public’s health and <a href="http://www.southerninjurylawyer.com/tag/safety/" class="st_tag internal_tag" rel="tag" title="Posts tagged with safety">safety</a></strong>, and it appears that the Peanut Corp. did both.</p>
<p>Michael Rogers, head of field investigations for the FDA, said that the agency uncovered the dubious activity during a closer review of documents provided by the Peanut Corp.</p>
<p>&#8220;We have not made a determination yet on <strong>liability</strong>,&#8221; <a href="http://www.southerninjurylawyer.com/tag/attorney/" class="st_tag internal_tag" rel="tag" title="Posts tagged with attorney">attorney</a> Amy Rotenberg, an <a href="http://www.southerninjurylawyer.com/tag/attorney/" class="st_tag internal_tag" rel="tag" title="Posts tagged with attorney">attorney</a> for the Peanut Corp., told the <a href="http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/M/MED_SALMONELLA_OUTBREAK?SITE=MAQUI&amp;SECTION=HOME&amp;TEMPLATE=DEFAULT">Associated Press</a>. &#8220;We are neither denying or admitting liability at this point. We are still investigating.&#8221;</p>
<p>On January 28, the Peanut Corp. issued <a href="http://peanutcorp.com/pdf/Peanut%20Corp%20%20Statement%201%2028%2009.pdf">a statement </a>on its website denying accusations that it shopped around for more favorable test results. “PCA uses only two highly reputable labs for product testing and they are widely used by the industry and employ good laboratory practices. PCA categorically denies any allegations that the Company sought favorable results from any lab in order to ship its products.”</p>
<p>The FDA and <a href="http://www.usda.gov/wps/portal/usdahome/">USDA</a> also knew that the Peanut Corp. was operating a dirty plant, yet its representatives failed to take action. In the past, inspectors found <strong>dead insects</strong> near peanuts, holes in the plant large enough to admit <strong>mice and rats</strong>, and <strong>dirty duct tape</strong> holding broken equipment together. They also discovered that the company used <strong>insecticide foggers</strong> in the plant but didn’t wash the exposed areas and equipment. The FDA gave Peanut Corp. the liberty to fix the problems on its own because the food products it tested at the time showed no signs of chemical or organic contamination.</p>
<p>As it happens all too commonly in government, a crisis is usually needed before substantial improvements are made. In this instance, 8 people died from s<strong>almonella poisoning</strong> linked to the Peanut Corp.’s contaminated peanut butter. Another 575 people were sickened.</p>
<p>Some members of Congress are calling for both <strong>criminal investigations</strong> by the Justice Department and an overhaul of the FDA and USDA. The USDA was one of Peanut Corp.’s two biggest buyers before it suspended all business with the company.</p>
<p><a href="http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/S/SALMONELLA_OUTBREAK_LEAHY?SITE=KLIF&amp;SECTION=HOME&amp;TEMPLATE=DEFAULT">Sen. Patrick Leahy of Vermont </a>said that food producers need to be held responsible for deadly outbreaks of disease such as this latest <strong>salmonella</strong> outbreak with jail time, not fines alone. Traditionally, the federal government has not been aggressive in penalizing companies that knowingly violate food <a href="http://www.southerninjurylawyer.com/tag/safety/" class="st_tag internal_tag" rel="tag" title="Posts tagged with safety">safety</a> laws.</p>
<p>Since news of the massive <strong>peanut butter <a href="http://www.southerninjurylawyer.com/tag/recall/" class="st_tag internal_tag" rel="tag" title="Posts tagged with recall">recall</a></strong> surfaced, many customers have shunned peanut butter altogether, including brands that have been deemed safe. Sales of all peanut butter brands are down 25 percent, according to a report by the New York Times. Some industry officials worry that Peanut Corp’s recklessness could be catastrophic to the peanut industry.</p>
<p>SOURCE: <a href="http://www.southerninjurylawyer.com">Personal Injury Attorneys</a> &rsaquo; <a href="http://www.southerninjurylawyer.com/news/2009/02/09/case-worsens-against-peanut-corp-tied-to-salmonella-outbreak/">Case worsens against Peanut Corp. tied to salmonella outbreak</a></p>
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		<title>Peanut Corp&#8217;s Texas plant ran unlicensed, uninspected since 2005</title>
		<link>http://www.southerninjurylawyer.com/news/2009/02/07/peanut-corps-texas-plant-ran-unlicensed-uninspected-since-2005/</link>
		<comments>http://www.southerninjurylawyer.com/news/2009/02/07/peanut-corps-texas-plant-ran-unlicensed-uninspected-since-2005/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Sat, 07 Feb 2009 14:00:52 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Kurt Niland</dc:creator>
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		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.southerninjurylawyer.com/?p=543</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Most of the news concerning the massive peanut butter recall has focused on the manufacturing facility in Blakely, Georgia where Peanut Corporation of America produced the contaminated peanut butter that sickened so many people. Now Peanut Corporation’s other factory in Plainview, Texas, is in the spotlight because it operated unlicensed and uninspected for nearly four [...]<p>SOURCE: <a href="http://www.southerninjurylawyer.com">Personal Injury Attorneys</a> &rsaquo; <a href="http://www.southerninjurylawyer.com/news/2009/02/07/peanut-corps-texas-plant-ran-unlicensed-uninspected-since-2005/">Peanut Corp&#8217;s Texas plant ran unlicensed, uninspected since 2005</a></p>
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			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Most of the news concerning the massive <strong>peanut butter <a href="http://www.southerninjurylawyer.com/tag/recall/" class="st_tag internal_tag" rel="tag" title="Posts tagged with recall">recall</a></strong> has focused on the manufacturing facility in <strong>Blakely, Georgia</strong> where <a href="http://www.peanutcorp.com/">Peanut Corporation of America</a> produced the contaminated peanut butter that sickened so many people. Now Peanut Corporation’s other factory in <strong>Plainview, Texas,</strong> is in the spotlight because it operated <strong>unlicensed</strong> and <strong>uninspected</strong> for nearly four years.<span id="more-543"></span></p>
<p>Just how the Texas plant could have operated under the radar for four years raises questions about the effectiveness of government in keeping the nation’s food clean and safe to eat. <strong>The Food and Drug Administration </strong>relies on the state of Texas, as it does with many other states, to administer federal food <a href="http://www.southerninjurylawyer.com/tag/safety/" class="st_tag internal_tag" rel="tag" title="Posts tagged with safety">safety</a> regulations. The FDA maintains that it does not have enough inspectors to check 65,520 food production facilities nationwide. The agency examined less than 6,000 plants in fiscal 2008, according to <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/01/27/AR2009012702992_pf.html/">a report</a> in <em>The Wa</em><em>shington Post</em>.</p>
<p>After investigators traced the <strong><a href="http://www.southerninjurylawyer.com/tag/salmonella/" title="" rel="external">salmonella</a> outbreak</strong> to Peanut Corporation’s Georgia facility, Texas sent Patrick Moore, an inspector with the Texas Department of State Health Services, to the Plainview, Texas, plant. Texas law requires that food manufacturers renew their licenses every two years and be routinely inspected. The Plainview plant operated since its opening in March 2005 without doing either.</p>
<p>“I was not aware this plant was in operation and did not know (what) type of products processed,&#8221; Moore wrote in an inspection report, according to the <a href="http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/S/SALMONELLA_OUTBREAK?SITE=ILEDW&amp;SECTION=HOME&amp;TEMPLATE=DEFAULT/">Associated Press</a>.</p>
<p>The problems with the Texas plant do not necessarily represent any wrongdoings by the parent company, but they do expose a state and federal regulatory system that is extremely inept. The plant is registered with the Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts as Plainview Peanut Co., LLC. It was also properly registered with the FDA as a food processing plant. However, neither the state nor the federal government bothered to check on the plant.</p>
<p><a href="http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/S/SALMONELLA_OUTBREAK?SITE=ILEDW&amp;SECTION=HOME&amp;TEMPLATE=DEFAULT">In an AP report</a>, Margaret Glavin, former associate commissioner for the FDA’s regulator affairs, said that no regularly updated database exists to assist food inspectors. “The database is terrible,” she said.</p>
<p>Representative Rosa DeLauro, D-Conn., oversees the FDA’s funding and acknowledges the agency’s serious shortcomings. She has been working on legislation that would take the &#8220;F&#8221; out of the FDA by creating a separate national food <a href="http://www.southerninjurylawyer.com/tag/safety/" class="st_tag internal_tag" rel="tag" title="Posts tagged with safety">safety</a> agency. &#8220;I think this is one more example of the real <strong>breakdown</strong> in the process of regulating food <a href="http://www.southerninjurylawyer.com/tag/safety/" class="st_tag internal_tag" rel="tag" title="Posts tagged with safety">safety</a> and making sure public <a href="http://www.southerninjurylawyer.com/tag/safety/" class="st_tag internal_tag" rel="tag" title="Posts tagged with safety">safety</a> is ensured,&#8221; DeLauro told the AP.</p>
<p>Since the <strong>salmonella</strong> outbreak, the Plainview, Texas facility has been inspected by both state and FDA officials. No salmonella has been detected there.</p>
<p>SOURCE: <a href="http://www.southerninjurylawyer.com">Personal Injury Attorneys</a> &rsaquo; <a href="http://www.southerninjurylawyer.com/news/2009/02/07/peanut-corps-texas-plant-ran-unlicensed-uninspected-since-2005/">Peanut Corp&#8217;s Texas plant ran unlicensed, uninspected since 2005</a></p>
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		<title>Vermont couple sues Peanut Corp. over son’s salmonella poisoning</title>
		<link>http://www.southerninjurylawyer.com/news/2009/02/05/vermont-couple-sues-peanut-corp-over-son%e2%80%99s-salmonella-poisoning/</link>
		<comments>http://www.southerninjurylawyer.com/news/2009/02/05/vermont-couple-sues-peanut-corp-over-son%e2%80%99s-salmonella-poisoning/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Thu, 05 Feb 2009 14:00:42 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Kurt Niland</dc:creator>
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		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.southerninjurylawyer.com/?p=523</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Seven-year-old Christopher Meunier spent nearly a week in the hospital late last year after eating some peanut butter crackers contaminated with salmonella. The boy’s parents, Gabrielle and Daryl Meunier of Burlington, Vermont, are now suing the Peanut Corporation of America for an undisclosed amount of money. 
The particular strain of salmonella that sickened the boy [...]<p>SOURCE: <a href="http://www.southerninjurylawyer.com">Personal Injury Attorneys</a> &rsaquo; <a href="http://www.southerninjurylawyer.com/news/2009/02/05/vermont-couple-sues-peanut-corp-over-son%e2%80%99s-salmonella-poisoning/">Vermont couple sues Peanut Corp. over son’s salmonella poisoning</a></p>
]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><img class="alignleft size-thumbnail wp-image-529" title="peanut-butter" src="http://www.southerninjurylawyer.com/media/2009/02/peanut-butter-150x150.jpg" alt="peanut butter 150x150" width="150" height="150" />Seven-year-old Christopher Meunier spent nearly a week in the hospital late last year after eating some peanut butter crackers contaminated with <strong><a href="http://www.southerninjurylawyer.com/tag/salmonella/" title="" rel="external">salmonella</a></strong>. The boy’s parents, Gabrielle and Daryl Meunier of Burlington, Vermont, are now suing the <strong><a href="http://www.southerninjurylawyer.com/tag/peanut-corporation-of-america/" title="" rel="external">Peanut Corporation of America</a></strong> for an undisclosed amount of money. <span id="more-523"></span></p>
<p>The particular strain of <strong>salmonella</strong> that sickened the boy is the same strain as the <strong>salmonella</strong> tied to Peanut Corporation’s manufacturing facility in Blakely, Georgia. Investigators from the <a href="http://www.fda.gov/">U.S. Food and Drug Administration</a> identified the strain as <em><strong>Salmonella Typhimurium</strong></em>. The <strong>salmonella</strong> found in the peanut butter products was one of four different strains detected in the factory.</p>
<p>The <strong>salmonella</strong> outbreak has sparked one of the largest and most complicated food <a href="http://www.southerninjurylawyer.com/tag/safety/" class="st_tag internal_tag" rel="tag" title="Posts tagged with safety">safety</a> recalls in U.S. history. Contaminated peanut products from the Peanut Corporation were used as ingredients in hundreds of other products such as crackers, cookies, candy, cake, and ice cream. The tainted peanut butter was also distributed to long-term care facilities, cafeterias, and other institutions. <a href="http://www.cdc.gov/">The Centers for Disease Control</a> (CDC) blames the contamination for more than 500 reported illnesses and 8 deaths across the country and Canada.</p>
<p>The <a href="http://www.southerninjurylawyer.com/tag/attorney/" class="st_tag internal_tag" rel="tag" title="Posts tagged with attorney">attorney</a> representing the Meuniers filed the lawsuit in U.S. District Court in the Middle District of Georgia.</p>
<p>The peanut plant at the root of the <strong>salmonella</strong> problems has a <strong>record of unsanitary conditions</strong>, according to government inspection records. The storage cooler is reported to have mold growing on the ceiling and walls and the plant has had a major roach infestation. <strong>Salmonella</strong> was found in the plant’s production line late last September, yet no measures were taken to clean the infected area.</p>
<p>Peanut Corp. had its peanut products re-tested at different labs when original test results came back positive for <strong>salmonella</strong>. Once negative test results were obtained, the company shipped the products out. Because of these actions, some members of Congress believe those responsible should face criminal charges.</p>
<p>Gabrielle Meunier expressed her alarm over the news about the <strong>salmonella</strong> outbreak. “I am absolutely so dismayed, so saddened that this could happen,&#8221; she told the <em><a href="http://www.burlingtonfreepress.com/article/20090128/NEWS02/90128036/">Burlington Free Press</a></em>.</p>
<p>In reference to the system that state and local governments have in place to enforce food <a href="http://www.southerninjurylawyer.com/tag/safety/" class="st_tag internal_tag" rel="tag" title="Posts tagged with safety">safety</a>, Meunier said “I know the process doesn&#8217;t work.&#8221;</p>
<p><strong>“Nobody is going to tell us the truth until it becomes one big court matter,” </strong>she told the <em>Burlington Free Press</em>.</p>
<p>Four illnesses linked to the salmonella outbreak were in Vermont.</p>
<p>SOURCE: <a href="http://www.southerninjurylawyer.com">Personal Injury Attorneys</a> &rsaquo; <a href="http://www.southerninjurylawyer.com/news/2009/02/05/vermont-couple-sues-peanut-corp-over-son%e2%80%99s-salmonella-poisoning/">Vermont couple sues Peanut Corp. over son’s salmonella poisoning</a></p>
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		<title>Probe of salmonella outbreak uncovers earlier peanut problems</title>
		<link>http://www.southerninjurylawyer.com/news/2009/02/03/probe-of-salmonella-outbreak-uncovers-earlier-peanut-problems/</link>
		<comments>http://www.southerninjurylawyer.com/news/2009/02/03/probe-of-salmonella-outbreak-uncovers-earlier-peanut-problems/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Tue, 03 Feb 2009 14:00:32 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Kurt Niland</dc:creator>
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		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.southerninjurylawyer.com/?p=504</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[A shipment of chopped peanuts from Peanut Corporation of America’s Blakely, Georgia, facility was rejected in Canada because it was deemed “filthy and putrid,” officials from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration said. 
The shipment was refused by the importer in Canada in April 2008. The importer requested that it be destroyed. Tests of the refused shipment later [...]<p>SOURCE: <a href="http://www.southerninjurylawyer.com">Personal Injury Attorneys</a> &rsaquo; <a href="http://www.southerninjurylawyer.com/news/2009/02/03/probe-of-salmonella-outbreak-uncovers-earlier-peanut-problems/">Probe of salmonella outbreak uncovers earlier peanut problems</a></p>
]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><img class="alignleft size-thumbnail wp-image-516" title="peanuts" src="http://www.southerninjurylawyer.com/media/2009/02/peanuts-150x150.jpg" alt="peanuts 150x150" width="150" height="150" />A shipment of chopped peanuts from <strong><a href="http://www.southerninjurylawyer.com/tag/peanut-corporation-of-america/" title="" rel="external">Peanut Corporation of America</a>’s</strong> Blakely, Georgia, facility was rejected in Canada because it was deemed “<strong>filthy and putrid,”</strong> officials from the <a href="http://fda.gov/">U.S. Food and Drug Administration</a> said. <span id="more-504"></span></p>
<p>The shipment was refused by the importer in Canada in April 2008. The importer requested that it be destroyed. Tests of the refused shipment later showed that the chopped peanuts contained <strong>metal fragments</strong>. The shipment was not destroyed until November 17, more than 7 months after it was rejected, because the Peanut Corporation tried to clean it up.</p>
<p>&#8220;The shipment was rejected from Canada and imported back to the U.S. and PCA,&#8221; Domenic Veneziano, director of import operations and policy for the FDA’s office of Regulatory Affairs, told the <em><a href="http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/chi-peanut-plantjan31,0,814430.story?track=rss/">Chicago Tribune</a></em>.</p>
<p>&#8220;They tried to recondition the shipment &#8230; and clean it up, and it could not be done. &#8230; The FDA went out and witnessed that shipment &#8230; and ensured that it was destroyed,” the Tribune reported.</p>
<p>Although the FDA maintains it took the right measures in preventing distribution of the contaminated shipment, the federal government says that the agency did not inspect the processing plant in Blakely, where the shipment originated.</p>
<p>Some members of Congress accuse Peanut Corporation of America of <a href="http://www.southerninjurylawyer.com/news/2009/01/29/peanut-corp-may-face-criminal-charges-over-salmonella-outbreak/">shopping around</a> for negative test results on batches of peanut products that already tested positive for <strong><a href="http://www.southerninjurylawyer.com/tag/salmonella/" title="" rel="external">salmonella</a> bacteria</strong>.</p>
<p>Peanut products contaminated with <strong>salmonella</strong> have caused 529 cases of food poisoning in nearly every state and Canada, according to the <a href="http://www.cdc.gov/">Centers for Disease Control and Prevention</a> (CDC).</p>
<p>All of Peanut Corporation’s roasted peanuts, granulated peanuts, peanut meal, peanut butter, and peanut paste have been recalled by the FDA. The peanut products have been used in more than 400 other products nationwide, in addition to institutions such as long-term care facilities, cafeterias, and even the U.S. Army.</p>
<p>SOURCE: <a href="http://www.southerninjurylawyer.com">Personal Injury Attorneys</a> &rsaquo; <a href="http://www.southerninjurylawyer.com/news/2009/02/03/probe-of-salmonella-outbreak-uncovers-earlier-peanut-problems/">Probe of salmonella outbreak uncovers earlier peanut problems</a></p>
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		<title>Congress announces first hearing on peanut butter recall</title>
		<link>http://www.southerninjurylawyer.com/news/2009/02/02/congress-announces-first-hearing-on-peanut-butter-recall/</link>
		<comments>http://www.southerninjurylawyer.com/news/2009/02/02/congress-announces-first-hearing-on-peanut-butter-recall/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Mon, 02 Feb 2009 17:19:07 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Kurt Niland</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[News]]></category>
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		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.southerninjurylawyer.com/?p=494</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Representative Henry Waxman, D-Cal. and Representative Bart Stupak, D-MI announced on Thursday that congress will hold the first public hearing on the salmonella outbreak that has been traced to Peanut Corporation of America’s peanut butter products.
Last week we reported how Peanut Corp. found some of their peanut butter to be tainted with salmonella but sold [...]<p>SOURCE: <a href="http://www.southerninjurylawyer.com">Personal Injury Attorneys</a> &rsaquo; <a href="http://www.southerninjurylawyer.com/news/2009/02/02/congress-announces-first-hearing-on-peanut-butter-recall/">Congress announces first hearing on peanut butter recall</a></p>
]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><img class="alignleft size-thumbnail wp-image-508" title="henry-waxman" src="http://www.southerninjurylawyer.com/media/2009/01/henry-waxman-150x150.jpg" alt="henry waxman 150x150" width="150" height="150" />Representative Henry Waxman, D-Cal. and Representative Bart Stupak, D-MI announced on Thursday that congress will hold the first public hearing on the <strong><a href="http://www.southerninjurylawyer.com/tag/salmonella/" title="" rel="external">salmonella</a> outbreak that</strong> has been traced to<strong> <a href="http://www.southerninjurylawyer.com/tag/peanut-corporation-of-america/" title="" rel="external">Peanut Corporation of America</a>’s</strong> peanut butter products.<span id="more-494"></span></p>
<p>Last week we reported how Peanut Corp. found some of their peanut butter to be tainted with <strong>salmonella</strong> but sold and shipped the products anyway. After the products tested positive for <strong>salmonella</strong> in internal tests, the company had the products retested by external labs, who reported negative readings.</p>
<p>The re-tests outraged some members of congress, who accused Peanut Corp. of shopping around for negative readings. Others say retesting was inappropriate because the nature of peanut butter makes it possible for <strong>salmonella</strong> to be present in pockets rather than spread throughout, so that samples taken from a contaminated batch could easily come out negative.</p>
<p>&#8220;The situation at the plant is alarming,&#8221; <a href="http://energycommerce.house.gov/index.php?option=com_content&amp;task=view&amp;id=1482&amp;Itemid=1">said Rep. Waxman</a>. &#8220;It shows major gaps in our food <a href="http://www.southerninjurylawyer.com/tag/safety/" class="st_tag internal_tag" rel="tag" title="Posts tagged with safety">safety</a> system. I am extremely troubled by reports that the plant tested positive for <strong>salmonella</strong> numerous times but nothing was done to ensure that the product did not go on the market.&#8221;</p>
<p>Rep. Waxman, who serves as Chairman of the Energy and Commerce Committee, said that the hearings should focus on Peanut Corp.’s <strong>Blakely, Georgia, facility</strong>, which is where the tainted peanut butter originated. According to the FDA, more than 500 people are reported to have been sickened and at least 8 people have died because of the salmonella outbreak.</p>
<p>The president of Peanut Corporation of America, Stewart Parnell, will be among those called to testify at the hearings. Representatives from two labs used by the Peanut Corp. for testing will also be present. Dr. Frank Torti, Acting Commissioner of the FDA, and Thomas Irvin, Commissioner of the Georgia Department of Agriculture will testify as well.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.house.gov/stupak/">Rep. Stupak</a>, who chairs the Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations, believes the <strong>FDA</strong> may also be at fault for the outbreak. &#8220;There are still far too many questions surrounding <strong>FDA&#8217;s</strong> role in allowing the Peanut Corporation of America to distribute contaminated products,&#8221; Rep. Stupak said. &#8220;We have already requested a number of documents from the company and I hope this hearing will help bring to light not only what went wrong but also what <strong>FDA</strong> and industry can do to <strong>prevent future outbreaks</strong>.&#8221;</p>
<p>The first hearing will be held on <strong>Wednesday, February 11 at 10:00 a.m. ET</strong>.</p>
<p>SOURCE: <a href="http://www.southerninjurylawyer.com">Personal Injury Attorneys</a> &rsaquo; <a href="http://www.southerninjurylawyer.com/news/2009/02/02/congress-announces-first-hearing-on-peanut-butter-recall/">Congress announces first hearing on peanut butter recall</a></p>
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		<title>Peanut Corp. may face criminal charges over salmonella outbreak</title>
		<link>http://www.southerninjurylawyer.com/news/2009/01/29/peanut-corp-may-face-criminal-charges-over-salmonella-outbreak/</link>
		<comments>http://www.southerninjurylawyer.com/news/2009/01/29/peanut-corp-may-face-criminal-charges-over-salmonella-outbreak/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Thu, 29 Jan 2009 22:58:08 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Kurt Niland</dc:creator>
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		<category><![CDATA[Peanut Corporation of America]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Rosa DeLauro]]></category>
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		<category><![CDATA[salmonella]]></category>
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		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.southerninjurylawyer.com/?p=484</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[We reported earlier that the Peanut Corporation of America’s Blakely, Georgia plant knowingly shipped out a dozen batches of peanut products that had tested positive for salmonella. As the federal government&#8217;s investigation continues, the likelihood that company mangers will face criminal charges appears to grow.
Company records examined by the Food and Drug Administration indicate that [...]<p>SOURCE: <a href="http://www.southerninjurylawyer.com">Personal Injury Attorneys</a> &rsaquo; <a href="http://www.southerninjurylawyer.com/news/2009/01/29/peanut-corp-may-face-criminal-charges-over-salmonella-outbreak/">Peanut Corp. may face criminal charges over salmonella outbreak</a></p>
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			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><img class="alignleft size-thumbnail wp-image-490" title="peanut-corp-exterior" src="http://www.southerninjurylawyer.com/media/2009/01/peanut-corp-exterior-150x150.jpg" alt="peanut corp exterior 150x150" width="150" height="150" />We reported earlier that the <strong><a href="http://peanutcorp.com/">Peanut Corporation of America’s</a></strong> Blakely, Georgia plant <a href="http://www.southerninjurylawyer.com/news/2009/01/29/company-knowingly-sold-contaminated-peanut-butter-many-times/">knowingly shipped</a> out a dozen batches of peanut products that had tested positive for <strong><a href="http://www.southerninjurylawyer.com/tag/salmonella/" title="" rel="external">salmonella</a></strong>. As the federal government&#8217;s investigation continues, the likelihood that company mangers will face criminal charges appears to grow.<span id="more-484"></span></p>
<p>Company records examined by the Food and Drug Administration indicate that the Peanut Corporation <strong>had the contaminated products retested</strong> by external labs after in-house lab tests found <strong>salmonella</strong> bacteria.</p>
<p>The most recent re-test of contaminated peanut butter was ordered in September. Health officials began detecting signs of a <strong>salmonella</strong> outbreak in October.</p>
<p>According to the AP, “Michael Rogers, a senior FDA investigator, said it&#8217;s possible for <strong>salmonella</strong> to hide in small pockets of a large batch of peanut butter. That means the same batch can yield both positive and negative results,&#8221; he said. &#8220;The products should have been discarded after they first tested positive.”</p>
<p>The Peanut Corporation issued <a href="http://www.peanutcorp.com/pdf/Peanut%20Corp%20%20Statement%201%2028%2009.pdf/">a statement</a> saying that it “categorically denies any allegations that the company sought favorable results from any lab in order to ship its products.&#8221;</p>
<p>&#8220;We have been devastated by this, and we have been working around the clock with the FDA to ensure any potentially unsafe products are removed from the market immediately,&#8221; Stewart Parnell, the company’s president, <a href="http://www.peanutcorp.com/pdf/PCA%20Expanded%20%20Press%20Release%201_28_09.pdf/">said</a>.</p>
<p>Congresswoman Rosa DeLauro, D-Conn., who oversees the FDA’s funding, issued <a href="http://delauro.house.gov/release.cfm?id=1460/">a statement</a> in which she is clearly outraged by the Peanut Corp.’s actions.</p>
<p>“The actions by the <a href="http://www.southerninjurylawyer.com/tag/peanut-corporation-of-america/" title="" rel="external">Peanut Corporation of America</a> can only be described as <strong>reprehensible and criminal</strong>. Not only did this company knowingly sell tainted products, it shopped for a laboratory that would provide the acceptable results they were seeking. This behavior represents the worst of our current food <a href="http://www.southerninjurylawyer.com/tag/safety/" class="st_tag internal_tag" rel="tag" title="Posts tagged with safety">safety</a> regulatory system,” she said.</p>
<p>“I will be contacting the Department of Justice to request an investigation into the behavior by the Peanut Corporation of America to determine whether their actions warrant <strong>criminal prosecution</strong>,” DeLauro said.</p>
<p>“We must pursue a zero-tolerance policy when dealing with businesses that intentionally sell tainted products.”</p>
<p><a href="http://agr.georgia.gov/02/doa/home/0,2473,38902732,00.html/">Georgia’s top agricultural official</a>, Tommy Irvin, echoed DeLauro’s call for a Justice Department investigation.</p>
<p>&#8220;They tried to hide it so they could sell it,&#8221; Irvin said. &#8220;Now they&#8217;ve caused a mammoth problem that could destroy their company — and it could destroy the peanut industry.&#8221;</p>
<p>SOURCE: <a href="http://www.southerninjurylawyer.com">Personal Injury Attorneys</a> &rsaquo; <a href="http://www.southerninjurylawyer.com/news/2009/01/29/peanut-corp-may-face-criminal-charges-over-salmonella-outbreak/">Peanut Corp. may face criminal charges over salmonella outbreak</a></p>
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		<title>Company knowingly sold contaminated peanut butter many times</title>
		<link>http://www.southerninjurylawyer.com/news/2009/01/29/company-knowingly-sold-contaminated-peanut-butter-many-times/</link>
		<comments>http://www.southerninjurylawyer.com/news/2009/01/29/company-knowingly-sold-contaminated-peanut-butter-many-times/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Thu, 29 Jan 2009 20:29:56 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Kurt Niland</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[News]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[recalled products]]></category>
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		<category><![CDATA[peanut butter recall]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Peanut Corporation of America]]></category>
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		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.southerninjurylawyer.com/?p=470</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Officials from the Food and Drug Administration discovered that the Peanut Corporation of America found salmonella bacteria while conducting internal tests several times in 2007 and 2008 but knowingly sold its products anyway. The contaminated peanut butter products were shipped 12 times in those two years, according to company documents examined by the FDA.
According to [...]<p>SOURCE: <a href="http://www.southerninjurylawyer.com">Personal Injury Attorneys</a> &rsaquo; <a href="http://www.southerninjurylawyer.com/news/2009/01/29/company-knowingly-sold-contaminated-peanut-butter-many-times/">Company knowingly sold contaminated peanut butter many times</a></p>
]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><img class="alignleft size-thumbnail wp-image-477" title="salmonella-typhimurium" src="http://www.southerninjurylawyer.com/media/2009/01/salmonella-typhimurium-150x150.jpg" alt="salmonella typhimurium 150x150" width="150" height="150" />Officials from the <a href="http://www.fda.gov">Food and Drug Administration</a> discovered that the <a href="http://www.peanutcorp.com/">Peanut Corporation of America</a> found <strong><a href="http://www.southerninjurylawyer.com/tag/salmonella/" title="" rel="external">salmonella</a></strong> bacteria while conducting internal tests several times in 2007 and 2008 but knowingly sold its products anyway. The <strong>contaminated peanut butter</strong> products were shipped 12 times in those two years, according to company documents examined by the FDA.<span id="more-470"></span></p>
<p>According to records kept by the <a href="http://www.cdc.gov/">Centers for Disease Control and Prevention</a> (CDC), more than 500 people in 43 states and Canada have become sick after eating products containing the <a href="http://www.southerninjurylawyer.com/tag/peanut-corporation-of-america/" title="" rel="external">Peanut Corporation of America</a>’s <strong>contaminated peanut butter</strong>. The FDA blames the <strong>salmonella</strong> outbreak on eight deaths so far.</p>
<p>Approximately 400 products from several manufacturers have been pulled from store shelves as part of the massive <strong>peanut butter <a href="http://www.southerninjurylawyer.com/tag/recall/" class="st_tag internal_tag" rel="tag" title="Posts tagged with recall">recall</a></strong>. Most of the contaminated peanut butter and peanut butter paste made by PCA is used as an ingredient in other products such as cookies, crackers, candy, and ice cream. It is also distributed to a number of institutions and cafeterias.</p>
<p>Federal investigators tested the PCA facility in Blakely, Georgia, where the contamination occurred. They found four different strains of salmonella. However, only one strain &#8212; <em><strong>Salmonella Typhimurium</strong></em> &#8212; has been found in the company’s food samples.</p>
<p>Because the federal government does not require companies to disclose the results of tests conducted internally, heath regulators were not aware of the contamination. Still, the company likely broke federal law, according to Stephen Sundlof, director of the <a href="http://www.cfsan.fda.gov/list.html/">FDA&#8217;s Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition</a>.</p>
<p>&#8220;Foods are supposed to be produced under conditions that do not render them damaging to health,&#8221; he told <em><a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/story/2009/01/27/ST2009012703730.html/">The Washington Post</a></em>. Whether the criminal charges could be pressed against the company is not yet clear.</p>
<p>No one knows at this time exactly how the <strong>salmonella</strong> bacteria migrated from its source to the food, but investigations are still underway. The Blakely plant has suspended operations until more is known about the contamination.</p>
<p>According to health regulators from the state of Georgia, inspection reports indicate the Blakely plant has a <strong>long history of unsanitary conditions</strong>. Despite any violations, however, no records indicate the company was ever subject to state or federal fines.</p>
<p>The FDA has never inspected the plant itself but relied on the Georgia Department of Agriculture for routine inspections. The FDA claims that it simply does not have enough inspectors to send to all of the nation’s food production plants. Likewise, Oscar Garrison, Georgia&#8217;s assistant agriculture commissioner for consumer protection, said that the state doesn’t have enough resources to test all of the state’s food-processing plants and food stores.</p>
<p>Nevertheless, Georgia officials were inspecting the plant last October when the contaminated products were being made. Unfortunately, neither the factory nor the food were tested for <strong>salmonella</strong>.</p>
<p>Michael Rogers, director of field investigations for the FDA, told <em>The Washington Post </em>that “all inspections are a snapshot in time; they only reveal what is happening at the firm at that particular time.&#8221; Assuming the statement is accurate, why didn’t Georgia inspectors leave the PCA plant last October with a snapshot of <strong>salmonella</strong> contamination?</p>
<p>&#8220;The average plant is inspected once every 10 years. This one was getting inspected a couple of times a year by Georgia, but neither they nor the FDA were taking enough enforcement action,&#8221; Jean Halloran, the director of food <a href="http://www.southerninjurylawyer.com/tag/safety/" class="st_tag internal_tag" rel="tag" title="Posts tagged with safety">safety</a> for <a href="http://www.consumersunion.org/">Consumers Union</a>, told <em>The Washington Post</em>.</p>
<p>SOURCE: <a href="http://www.southerninjurylawyer.com">Personal Injury Attorneys</a> &rsaquo; <a href="http://www.southerninjurylawyer.com/news/2009/01/29/company-knowingly-sold-contaminated-peanut-butter-many-times/">Company knowingly sold contaminated peanut butter many times</a></p>
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		<title>contaminated peanut butter sparks massive recall</title>
		<link>http://www.southerninjurylawyer.com/news/2009/01/22/contaminated-peanut-butter-sparks-massive-recall/</link>
		<comments>http://www.southerninjurylawyer.com/news/2009/01/22/contaminated-peanut-butter-sparks-massive-recall/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Thu, 22 Jan 2009 14:00:16 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Kurt Niland</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[News]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[recalled products]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Austin]]></category>
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		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.southerninjurylawyer.com/?p=436</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[According to the Food and Drug Administration, 485 people in 43 states and Canada have been sickened by an outbreak of Salmonella Typhimurium, which has been traced to products containing contaminated peanut butter originating from the Peanut Corporation of America (PCA). Authorities also believe the contaminated peanut butter has lead to about 100 hospitalizations and [...]<p>SOURCE: <a href="http://www.southerninjurylawyer.com">Personal Injury Attorneys</a> &rsaquo; <a href="http://www.southerninjurylawyer.com/news/2009/01/22/contaminated-peanut-butter-sparks-massive-recall/">contaminated peanut butter sparks massive recall</a></p>
]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><img class="alignleft size-thumbnail wp-image-445" title="peanut-butter-recall" src="http://www.southerninjurylawyer.com/media/2009/01/peanut-butter-recall-150x150.jpg" alt="peanut butter recall 150x150" width="150" height="150" />According to the <strong>Food and Drug Administration</strong>, 485 people in 43 states and Canada have been sickened by an outbreak of <em><a href="http://www.southerninjurylawyer.com/tag/salmonella/" title="" rel="external">Salmonella</a> Typhimurium</em>, which has been traced to products containing contaminated peanut butter originating from the <strong><a href="http://www.peanutcorp.com/">Peanut Corporation of America</a></strong> (PCA). Authorities also believe the contaminated peanut butter has lead to about <strong>100 hospitalizations</strong> and may be responsible for <strong>six deaths</strong>.<span id="more-436"></span></p>
<p>The <strong>FDA</strong> notified PCA on Monday that samples of peanut butter originating from the company’s facility in Blakely, Georgia, tested positive for the salmonella bacteria. The peanut butter was distributed under the <strong>King Nut </strong>brand name and sold wholesale to food manufacturers and institutions such as long-term care facilities and cafeterias.</p>
<p>PCA sells its peanut butter in containers ranging from 5 to 1,700 pounds. Its peanut butter paste is sold in bulk containers ranging from 35 pounds to tanker loads.</p>
<p>Jarred peanut butter is safe to eat, the <strong>FDA</strong> says, but consumers should avoid consuming foods containing peanut butter and peanut butter paste. PCA does not sell its peanut butter directly to consumers in jar form. The <strong>FDA</strong> is maintaining a continually updated  <a href="http://www.accessdata.fda.gov/scripts/peanutbutterrecall/index.cfm/">list of all products affected by the recall</a>.</p>
<p>Stores throughout the U.S. and around the world continue to pull products containing peanut butter off the shelves. While not all products containing peanut butter may be affected, the <strong>FDA</strong> suggests that it is best to avoid buying and eating them altogether as a precautionary measure until more is known. Affected products were sold between between Aug. 21, 2008, and Jan. 19, 2009.</p>
<p>At this time, tests have confirmed the presence of the salmonella bacteria found in a package of Austin Quality Foods Toasty Crackers with Peanut Butter manufactured by Kellogg of Battle Creek, Michigan. The <strong>FDA</strong> does not yet know which other specific products contain the contaminated peanut butter.</p>
<p>Products known to be safe, according to their manufacturers, include those from ConAgra, the maker of Peter Pan brand peanut butter, J.M. Smucker, Russell Stover Candies, Inc., and ABC Bakers-Interbake Foods, the maker of Girl Scout cookies. None of the four companies buy peanut butter from PCA.</p>
<p>SOURCE: <a href="http://www.southerninjurylawyer.com">Personal Injury Attorneys</a> &rsaquo; <a href="http://www.southerninjurylawyer.com/news/2009/01/22/contaminated-peanut-butter-sparks-massive-recall/">contaminated peanut butter sparks massive recall</a></p>
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