Texas Plant Closed Amid Salmonella Scare
DSHS officials said it does not appear that any of the implicated products – peanut meal, granulated peanuts and dry roasted peanuts – have reached consumers. The testing was done by a private lab under contract with PCA.
11/02/09 The Peanut Corporation of America has voluntarily closed its Plainview plant in Texas after laboratory tests of sample products from the plant indicated the possible presence of Salmonella in some products. PCA notified the Texas Department of State Health Services of the findings on Monday.
DSHS officials said it does not appear that any of the implicated products – peanut meal, granulated peanuts and dry roasted peanuts – have reached consumers.
The testing was done by a private lab under contract with PCA.
The peanut meal and granulated peanuts had not been shipped out of the Plainview facility. The dry roasted peanuts had been shipped to a distributor but were detained and recalled before further distribution.
It is not yet known if the Salmonella possibly found in the product testing is the same strain of the bacterium implicated in a 43-state outbreak of salmonellosis.
DSHS is developing specific criteria the company must meet before it can resume production and is not aware of any illnesses associated with products from the Plainview facility.
The plant was closed at the request of DSHS.
The original peanut butter recall launched weeks ago has expanded to include more than 1,000 products.
The Peanut Corporation of America originally said tainted peanut butter and peanut paste were shipped by Peanut Corporation of America to institutions such as schools, nursing homes and prisons but not grocery stores.
But on Sunday, the company revised its recall notice to say products were in fact sold to some retail outlets, dollar stores, such as 99 Cent Stuff, 99 Cents Only Stores, Dollar General, and Dollar Tree Stores. Products include Casey's, Parnell's Pride, Reggie, and Robinson Crusoe labels.
