Recent Event Highlights: Recall expands to Texas plant, PCA president refuses to testify, FDA joins criminal investigation, PCA expands peanut product recall, FDA investigation finds PCA knew about salmonella , Salmonella strain linked to eight deaths, and 7 more...
Created by CST on Feb 17, 2009
Last updated: 03/12/10 at 02:04 AM
To date, more than 2000 peanut-containing products have been recalled from over 200 companies, making it one of the largest product recalls in history.
Texas health officials announce a recall of all products ever manufactured at another PCA processing plant in Plainview, Texas, after they discover dead rodents, droppings and bird feathers in a crawl gap above a food production area.
The Peanut Corporation of America files for chapter 7 bankruptcy, a month after peanut products from its Blakely, Georgia facility were first recalled due to salmonella contamination.
The president of the Peanut Corporation of America refuses to testify at a Congressional hearing, at which he is accused of caring more about profits than food safety. Stewart Parnell appears at the hearing after he was ordered by subpoena to do so, but he chooses to exercise his constitutional right to refuse to testify, as does the manager of the PCA plant in Blakely, Georgia.
The salmonella strain originating at the PCA's Georgia plant is linked to a ninth death. So far, 636 people have been sickened by the strain across 44 states.
Kellogg’s faces a lawsuit, after a Vermont couple suing the PCA moved to also sue Kellogg’s, after it emerged that the PCA’s limited insurance policy of $28m to $31m would be unlikely to provide sufficient funds after all legal action had been taken.
President Obama says in a televised interview that his administration will conduct a complete review of the US Food and Drug Administration to prevent future lapses in food safety. The FDA has not been able to catch some of these things as quickly as I would have expected them to catch them, so we’re going to be doing a complete review of its operations,” Obama tells the Today Show. “At a bare minimum, we should be able to count on our government keeping our kids safe when they eat peanut butter.”
The US Food and Drug Administration joins the Justice Department in a criminal investigation of the PCA.
The US Food and Drug Administration announces that the Peanut Corporation of America is expanding its recall to include all peanut products manufactured at the plant since January 1 2007.
US health officials say that the Peanut Corporation of America (PCA) knew that its peanut products were potentially contaminated with salmonella before distributing them. The revelation comes as the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) concludes its investigation into the PCA, which found that the company had detected salmonella several times in its peanut processing plant over the past two years, but had done nothing to prevent its spread.
A wrongful death lawsuit is filed against the PCA, alleging that a 72-year-old Minnesota woman died as a direct result of consuming tainted peanut butter manufactured at its Blakely, Georgia facility.
The CDC links an eighth death to the salmonella strain originating at the PCA processing plant. The number of reported illnesses has risen to 501.
The salmonella outbreak linked to PCA peanut products has now caused 491 reported illnesses across 43 states, and a seventh death may have been caused by the infection, according to a CDC report.
The FDA amends the advice it had issued the day before - instead telling consumers to check its website for a list of contaminated products. Previously it had recommended that consumers avoid eating all peanut-containing products.
The FDA advises consumers to “postpone eating commercially-prepared or manufactured peanut butter-containing products” because of possible salmonella contamination. This causes a flood of statements from companies asserting that they do not contain peanut butter manufactured by the Peanut Corporation of America.
Data released by the CDC reveals a link between becoming ill with salmonella and consumption of peanut butter crackers, particularly the recalled Austin and Keebler brands manufactured by Kellogg’s.
The Food and Drug Administration posts a list of products known to be implicated in the recall on its website. It says: "FDA and the product manufacturers are working to determine the list of affected products, which may be extensive."
Health officials recommendations to keep the public informed result in a flurry of statements over the weekend from food manufacturers, including Hershey, Mars, and ConAgra, who issue statements to reassure the public that their products do not contain PCA peanut ingredients.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention links the salmonella outbreak to a sixth death. The number of reported illnesses caused by the strain stands at 474.
Kellogg's recalls its Austin and Keebler brands of peanut butter crackers. Meanwhile, H-E-B, Ralcorp Frozen Baker and Hy-Vee have all issued recalls for a range of products which they say could be contaminated.
The CDC and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) recommend that food manufacturers should inform consumers if their products could contain peanut butter or paste produced by the PCA. They also say: “If a manufacturer knows their products do not contain peanut paste from PCA, they should inform consumers of that.”
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says that infection with the salmonella strain "may have contributed to five deaths." It says that 434 people have been infected across 43 states.
The Peanut Corporation of America announces a voluntary recall of its King Nut brand peanut butter manufactured at its Blakely, Georgia plant produced on or after July 1, 2008.
The Minnesota Department of Agriculture Laboratory finds the outbreak salmonella strain in an opened five pound container of King Nut brand peanut butter, manufactured by the Peanut Corporation of America.
PCA president Stewart Parnell sends an email to employees assuring them: "We have never found any salmonella at all."
King Nut Companies, a distributor of peanut butter made by the Peanut Corporation of America, issues a voluntary recall of peanut butter sold under the King Nut and Parnell’s Pride labels.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) announced that it was working with the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to investigate an outbreak of salmonella typhimurium linked to 388 illnesses across 42 states.
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