Salmonella Toll Hits 666 Sick— and Climbing

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»

(NEWSER) - The wide range of products containing peanut butter makes the ongoing salmonella outbreak especially tough on regulators and consumers, CNN reports. It's everywhere, from ice cream to energy bars to dog treats. The outbreak has so far sickened nearly 500 people and killed six in 43 states, and investigators expect the list of 125 recalled products to keep growing. More»

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»

Earlier Ga. salmonella scare also thought caused by rainwater

(NEWSER) - A leaky roof at the Peanut Corporation of America’s Georgia plant is seen as a possible culprit for the recent salmonella outbreak, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports. Not only is water necessary to activate salmonella, but rain could have washed salmonella-carrying bird droppings into the plant. “Allowing water to get into a dry processing environment would be like putting gas on a fire,” one expert said. 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»