I don’t know about you, but mold and residue flavored peanut butter doesn’t sound appealing to me – with or without salmonella.
Recent FDA observations of Peanut Corporation of America plant – which was linked to the latest nationwide salmonella outbreak – reveal disturbing findings on just what manufacturers consider reasonable sanitary conditions.
PCA’s failures include knowingly shipping products that were – more than likely – contaminated with salmonella; continuing normal production on contaminated lines without proper cleaning; placing finished products in the vicinity of salmonella tainted swabs; washing hands, utensils and mops in the peanut butter storage room’s sink; storing products in moldy coolers; and, generally, operating dirty production lines in unventilated areas with leaking roofs.
The company dares to bear the slogan “processor of the world’s finest peanut products,” and I haven’t even mentioned yet the live – but mostly dead – roaches found in the firm’s washroom near the production and packaging area.
Georgia Department of Agriculture is “able to conduct about 4,500 tests on products per year,” department official Oscar Garrison told the House subcommittee appointed to the case. “We inspect approximately 16,000 facilities.”
That leaves consumers with more than 10,000 potential health hazards – in other words, practically every other product might be contaminated.
The last sample taken from the plant in 2007 tested negative for salmonella, Garrison said. I guess 2008 must have been a prosperous year for the bacteria.
In September 2008, product testing for PCA sample “confirmed salmonella positive” said Darlene Cowart, president of PCA’s lab services at the time. The title on the sample said “PP Sales,” she added.
In January 2009, Minnesota Health Department linked Parnell Pride peanut butter, a PCA product, to the Salmonella outbreak, which started September 2008. No wonder PCA president Stewart Parnell took the fifth.
Evidence obtained by the investigating House subcommittee “show a company that was more concerned with its bottom line than the safety of its customers,” said committee chairman Rep. Henry Wixman of California.
Yet PCA’s spokeswoman Amy Rotenberg, a lawyer who specializes in government investigation and federal litigation, carefully stated that the company does not deny nor accept responsibility for the outbreak.
PCA is not the first company to disregard public health. In 2008, baby spinach, tomatoes, jalapeño peppers, almonds and even cereal were linked to salmonella outbreaks.
For the average person salmonella will only cause a four to seven days of stomach flu, but for the elderly, children and those with weak immune systems, salmonella is lethal.
Aren’t we supposed to care for the young, the old and the week?
According to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, every year there are 76 million cases of foodborne illnesses, more than 300,000 persons are hospitalized and 5,000 die from foodborne illness.
Obviously, we can’t trust greedy manufacturers who are encouraged by our hyper competitive market to maximize profit and minimize cost at the expense of the poor nor can we trust poorly funded governmental agencies that allow companies to go unsupervised and leave consumers’ safety at the mercy of manufacturers’ poor discretion.
It is up to us, the consumers, to demand better enforcement of “good practice” and stronger adherence to ethical standards. We can’t blame the peanut for being contaminated by the system but we can pressure our agencies to scrub clean the system.
There is no time to waste for the stimulus chapter dedicated to food safety to unveil. Write to your representative today and ask for stricter food safety regulations and enforcement - Activate your civic duty and voice your opinion.
