Insecticide found in peanut plant during 2001 tour

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http://deseretnews.com/article/0,5143,705283244,00.html

Insecticide found in peanut plant during 2001 tour

Associated Press
Published: February 6, 2009

WASHINGTON — A Georgia peanut plant at the center of a salmonella
outbreak earlier had potentially exposed its products to insecticides,
one of several violations uncovered in 2001 during the last visit
federal inspectors made before the current food-poisoning scare.

Workers at the Peanut Corp. of America's plant used an insecticide
fogger in food processing areas and didn't wash the exposed equipment,
Food and Drug Administration inspectors wrote in a 2001 reported
obtained by The Associated Press. They also found dirty duct tape
wrapped on broken equipment, dead insects around peanuts and gaps in
doors where rodents could enter the plant.

FDA inspectors did not find evidence of insecticides in peanuts at the
plant during that earlier visit. Company officials told them the
fogger was last used two weeks earlier, according to the inspection
report.

Some of those 2001 findings by the FDA are similar to problems
inspectors discovered during a visit to the plant last month after
salmonella-tainted peanuts and peanut butter were linked to at least
eight deaths and 575 illnesses in 43 states. The FDA's recent
inspection was the first time federal officials visited the plant
since their 2001 report.

Peanut Corp. officials have denied any wrongdoing in the salmonella
outbreak. A criminal investigation is under way.

The Agriculture Department abruptly suspended all business with the
company Thursday. The USDA shipped some of the company's potentially
contaminated peanut butter and peanuts to eight states, including
school lunch programs in California, Minnesota and Idaho in 2007. None
of the states reported illnesses as a result of people eating the
products, agency officials said.

The USDA was one of Peanut Corp.'s two biggest clients in 2001 when
inspectors found the insecticide problem. USDA officials also
regularly visited the plant, including in recent years. But that
agency is not trained to perform food safety inspections, USDA
spokesman Jerry Redding said.

The USDA visits to the plant were made by "contract auditors" who are
"number crunchers," Redding said, who know nothing about peanuts. They
only visited to review records, he said.

Parnell told FDA inspectors in 2001 that USDA officials knew about the
insecticide fogger and approved use of the duct tape on broken
equipment, the FDA inspection report says.

The insecticide fogger discovered by inspectors noted on its labels
that any exposed equipment should be thoroughly washed after use.
Plant workers covered some areas, and told inspectors that no peanuts
were in any equipment when the foggers were used at night.

The plant manager told inspectors during their visit that workers
didn't clean the exposed areas and didn't realize the insecticide
couldn't be used around food.

Plant owner Stewart Parnell promised FDA inspectors at the time that
he would correct the problems because he "wanted to assure us that he
wanted his firm to be in compliance," FDA inspectors wrote.

Parnell told inspectors that the insecticide's "labeling had been
changed and they had not been aware of the change." the FDA report
states.

Parnell and the plant manager told inspectors the company was assured
by the insecticide supplier that the chemical was safe for use in food
areas.

Parnell also promised to remove the duct tape filled with dirt and
residue, and repair the broken equipment, the FDA report states.

Inspectors also found dead beetles and insect webs around peanuts, the
report states. Several gaps along doors as long as seven feet and
large enough for rodents also were found.

FDA officials said Friday the company was allowed in 2001 to fix the
problems on its own because the inspection showed no evidence that
finished products were being contaminated.

Michael Rogers, FDA's head of field investigations, said the problems
with pesticides and duct tape on equipment do not appear to have
surfaced again in inspections performed by Georgia inspectors. That
indicates they were corrected, he said.

"In 2001, FDA classified the inspection as 'voluntary action
indicated,' " Rogers said. "That is a classification reserved for
firms that have deviations noted by investigators, but there is no
evidence of direct contamination of finished products. In these cases,
firms are allowed to voluntarily correct the problems."

Rogers said the FDA is researching to see if any other official
actions were taken after the 2001 inspection.