The Wall Street Journal (1/22, Zhang, Jargon) reports, “Federal health authorities confirmed that peanut butter and peanut paste made by a Virginia company are the sole sources of a salmonella outbreak that has sickened 486 people in 43 states.” The Journal adds, “The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found that 14 institutions where people became sick had bought peanut butter made by Peanut Corp. of America, based in Lynchburg, Va.” And “an agency analysis said many of the people who became sick nationwide had eaten prepackaged peanut-butter sandwich crackers sold under Kellogg Co.’s Austin and Keebler brands. Kellogg, which used Peanut Corp.’s ingredients, has since recalled the products.” Also, another “strain of salmonella” was found “on parts of the floor of the company’s Blakely, Ga., plant.” The New York Times (1/22, A18, Rabin) also covers the story.
Number of recalled peanut products continues to rise. The Washington Post /AP (1/22, D3, Alonso-zaldivar) reports, “More than 125 products have been recalled in a salmonella-and-peanuts investigation that keeps getting bigger, federal health officials said yesterday” and the “list includes a variety of goodies, such as cookies, ice cream and energy bars.” Now, “even dog food may not be entirely safe, with a company recalling some of its dog treats.” The FDA “has set up on its Web site a searchable database of recalled peanut products.”
Group calls on Obama to appoint FDA chief. CQ (1/22) also reports the broad strokes of the outbreak, adding, “Consumers Union said Wednesday that President Obama should appoint a new FDA Commissioner as soon as possible to address peanut butter contamination and a growing list of other food safety problems.” Jean Halloran, the head of Food Policy Initiatives at Consumers Union said “FDA must inspect food production facilities more frequently than once every ten years on average, especially when a problem is identified in an industry.”
From the American Association for Justice news release.
