Salmonella Bacteria in Peanut Butter Linked to Leak
Pastor Dale Morgan
Salmonella Bacteria in Peanut Butter Linked to Leak*
Sunday April 8, 2007 2:16 AM
By JOSH FUNK
AP Business Writer
OMAHA, Neb. (AP) - Moisture from a leaky roof and faulty sprinkler
helped salmonella bacteria grow and contaminate peanut butter at its
Georgia plant last year, sickening more than 400 people nationwide,
ConAgra Foods said.
The Omaha-based company conducted a nearly two-month investigation into
the contamination and pledged to ensure that Peter Pan peanut butter is
safe when it returns to stores in mid-July.
``Consumer safety and health is our top priority,'' ConAgra spokeswoman
Stephanie Childs said Thursday. ``We plan to do our best to regain
consumer trust once Peter Pan returns to stores.''
Childs said the company traced the salmonella outbreak to three problems
at its Sylvester, Ga., plant last August.
The plant's roof leaked during a rainstorm, and the sprinkler system
went off twice because of a faulty sprinkler, which was repaired.
The moisture from those three events mixed with dormant salmonella
bacteria in the plant that Childs said likely came from raw peanuts and
peanut dust.
The plant was cleaned thoroughly after the roof leak and sprinkler
problem, but the salmonella remained and somehow came in contact with
peanut butter before it was packaged, she said.
ConAgra recalled all its peanut butter in February after federal health
officials linked it to cases of salmonella infection. At least 425
people in 44 states were sickened, and lawsuits have been filed against
the company.
The recall covered all Peter Pan peanut butter and all Great Value
peanut butter made at the Sylvester plant since October 2004. That plant
is ConAgra's only peanut butter plant.
Peanuts grow underground and salmonella is present in the dirt, but
generally any bacteria are killed when raw peanuts are roasted.
When making peanut butter, the nuts are again heated - above the
salmonella-killing temperature of 165 degrees - as they are ground into
a paste and mixed with other ingredients before being squirted into jars
and quickly sealed.
Experts had speculated that salmonella would be most likely to
contaminate peanut butter as it cooled and was placed in jars. At most
plants, those steps take just minutes.
The company plans to redesign the plant to provide greater separation
between raw peanuts and the finished product, Childs said. The plant
will also get a new roof.
ConAgra plans to reopen the plant in early August.
Before this recall, none of ConAgra's recent routine testing had
detected salmonella, so the company plans to develop a new procedure.
The Food and Drug Administration inspected the plant in February 2005
and found no problems, agency spokesman Michael Herndon has said. He did
not immediately return calls Thursday.
ConAgra has hired an experienced microbiologist to oversee food safety,
Childs said.
While renovations are being done, Peter Pan will be made at another
company's plant, the company said. Childs declined to identify that
manufacturing partner and said ConAgra had not decided whether that
plant will continue making Peter Pan after its Sylvester factory reopens.
Since the recall shut down production, the Sylvester plant's roughly 100
workers have been paid to do maintenance work. Childs said it's not yet
clear how the renovations will affect those employees.
Before the recall, ConAgra sold $150 million worth of peanut butter each
year, Childs said.
In addition to peanut butter, the company's brand names include Healthy
Choice, Chef Boyardee and Orville Redenbacher.
Salmonella sickens about 40,000 people a year in the U.S. and kills
about 600. It can cause diarrhea, fever, dehydration, abdominal pain and
vomiting.
But most cases of salmonella poisoning are caused by undercooked eggs
and chicken. The only previously known salmonella outbreak in peanut
butter - in Australia during the mid-1990s - was blamed on unsanitary
plant conditions.
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On the Net:
ConAgra Foods Inc.: www.conagrafoods.com