US: PCA defends hygiene record

By: just-food.com | 5 February 2009

Peanut Corporation of America, the peanut processor at the centre of the salmonella scare that has swept the US, has defended its hygiene record.

In a statement released yesterday (4 January) the PCA said that throughout 2008 its Blakely, Georgia, production facility passed state and federal inspections as well as independent audits.

"We want the public to know that there were regular visits and inspections of the Blakely facility by federal and state regulators in 2008. Independent audit and food safety firms also conducted customary unannounced inspections," PCA said.

The company attacked the media coverage of the recall, stating that reporting of the salmonella outbreak had been "confusing" and "misleading".

The company said that, due to the ongoing nature of the investigation, it was unable to comment further on the specifics of the outbreak.

The scare has been linked to the deaths of eight people and resulted in the recall of hundreds of products, including lines from the likes of Kellogg, Sara Lee and Whole Foods Market.

Last week, the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) claimed PCA found salmonella contamination at the Blakely plant on 12 occasions - but had the products retested and shipped out to market.

A report from the FDA stated ten "observations" of instances when PCA failed to keep equipment clean, store food correctly and maintain the plant.

For its part, PCA said at the time that it did "not agree with all the observations noted, and there are some inaccuracies".

Sectors: Baby food, Bakery, Chilled foods, Commodities & ingredients, Confectionery, Dairy, Food safety, Natural & organic, Retail, Snacks

Companies: Peanut Corporation of America, Kellogg, Whole Foods Market