Feds Order Massive Recall of All Peanut Plant Foods

Preplanned inspections, loose oversight kept company in business

(NEWSER) - Angry salmonella victims and their families are asking how the government missed the Peanut Corporation of America's flagrant health violations that killed eight people, reports the New York Times. The company and government inspectors overlooked rodents, leaky roofs and lukewarm roasters, while minimum-wage temporary workers paid little attention to health code procedures, according to reports. More»

FDA, Justice Dept. team up for investigation of Georgia peanut plant

(NEWSER) - The federal government has begun a criminal investigation into the peanut-driven salmonella outbreak, after it was revealed that a supplier shipped product that initially tested positive for the bacteria, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports. The House has called representatives from two testing labs, which certified negative results, to testify. Peanut Corp. of America denies it “sought favorable results from any lab.” More»

Interagency bumbling, lax regulations let problem go unaddressed

(NEWSER) - Mammoth meat packer Cargill recalled a whopping 36 million pounds of ground turkey last week, but federal officials knew of salmonella contamination at a Cargill plant dating back to last year, reports the Wall Street Journal . It seems that a USDA inspection turned up three instances of salmonella Heidelberg at Cargill's Arkansas plant in 2010, which were "brought to the attention of the facility"; federal regulations, however, allow up to 49.9% of tests to be positive as salmonella isn't considered a dangerous adulterant unless it causes death. Problem: The Heidelberg strain involved in the recall is antibiotic-resistant and can be fatal. More»

Food poisoning outbreaks traced back to dangers cut-price auditors missed

(NEWSER) - The job of monitoring America's food plants is falling more and more to private inspectors who often miss hazards, a New York Times investigation finds. Plants hire such auditors to reassure customers and reduce liability, but the companies often pick the cheapest and least rigorous audits available. Some of the largest food poisoning outbreaks in recent years can be traced to plants where private auditors failed to spot problems. More»

(NEWSER) - A third of US states do not require testing of the salmonella bacteria involved in reported illnesses, possibly hampering national efforts to identify outbreaks, MSNBC reports. If testing were mandatory, proponents say, a strain’s widespread dissemination could be more quickly identified and the source more easily pinpointed. But states without mandatory testing say their methods are just as effective and more economical. More»