Peanut Corp. Banned From Federal Work

Multiple safety violations found at plant linked to salmonella outbreak

(NEWSER) - A Texas peanut plant owned by the company blamed for a nationwide salmonella outbreak has been ordered to shell out $14.6 million for safety violations, AP reports. State officials levied the fine—the largest ever in Texas—for violations including unsanitary conditions, product contamination and operating without a license for four years. More»

9 killed in outbreak; Peanut Corp cited in all 'clusters of infections'

(NEWSER) - Peanut-linked salmonella has sickened 666 people and counting, despite a massive food recall, Reuters reports. The illness has killed nine. “To date, 19 clusters of infections in five states have been reported in schools and other institutions,” said a health official. “King Nut brand peanut butter was present in all facilities.” King Nut and all tainted peanut butter has been traced to now-bankrupt Peanut Corporation of America. More»

(AP) - Texas has ordered a recall of all products ever shipped from a Peanut Corp. of America plant in Plainview amid a nationwide salmonella outbreak. The order came from the Department of State Health Services, which says "dead rodents, rodent excrement, and bird feathers" were discovered yesterday in a crawl space above a production area. Inspectors say the unit's air handling system was pulling debris from the infested crawl space into production areas. More»

Agency meant to ensure food safety bought contaminated nuts

(NEWSER) - The peanut firm behind the recent salmonella outbreak sold 32 truckloads of peanuts and peanut butter to a federal lunch program for poor children even after internal tests revealed that they were contaminated with the bacteria, the Washington Post reports. Schools in California, Minnesota, and Idaho received the food in 2007. Though the agriculture department isn’t aware of any illnesses in the free-lunch program, around the country 8 people died and 575 were sickened. More»

Firm tried to export unsuitable food weeks before current salmonella outbreak

(AP) - Weeks before the earliest signs of a national salmonella outbreak that now has been traced to peanuts from a Georgia processing plant, peanuts exported by the same company were found to be contaminated and were returned to the United States. The rejected shipment—coming over the US border across a bridge between New York and Canada—was logged by the FDA but never tested by federal inspectors. More»