8/14/2019 TheSun 2009-01-30 Page09 US Peanut Company Expands Salmonella Recall

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newswithout borders9theSun | FRIDAY JANUARY 30 2009

US peanut company expands salmonella recallCHICAGO: A company at thecentre of a salmonella outbreakthat has sickened more than 500

people was broadening its recallof peanut products, US healthofficials said on Wednesday.

The US Food and Drug Ad-ministration said Peanut Corp of America would expand its recallto all peanut products producedat its Blakely, Georgia plant since Jan 1, 2007, after agencyinspectors found more strains of salmonella at the plant.

“These additional productsare being recalled because thereis concern of potential salmo-nella contamination, includingcontamination with salmonellastrains not associated with thecurrent outbreak,” StephenSundlof, director of the FDA’sCentre for Food Safety and Ap-plied Nutrition, told reporters ina telephone briefing.

A company representative

was not immediately availablefor comment.

Sundlof stressed that to date,the only illnesses linked tosalmonella in peanut productswere caused by the SalmonellaTyphimurium strain.

“CDC (Centres for DiseaseControl) and FDA will continueto monitor incidents of salmo-nella illness throughout thecountry,” he said.

Sundlof said the expandedrecall now includes all peanuts– dry and roasted, granulated

peanuts, peanut butter and pea-nut paste made at the Blakelyfacility.

Michael Rogers, head of FDA’s field investigations, saidthe company’s internal recordsrevealed situations in 2007 and2008 where the firm’s own test-ing programme had identifiedsalmonella contamination ina product. But, after getting asubsequent negative test, thecompany resumed shippingproducts, Rogers said.

“The additional salmonellastrains discovered at this plant underscore that this plant wasshipping adulterated product,but as for now we are not awareof any illnesses connected toany other salmonella strainsshown at this facility,” Rogerstold reporters on the call.

The FDA’s plant inspectionreport revealed a number of deficiencies, including evidenceof cracks in the floor, livecockroaches, mould and waterdripping from the ceiling in anarea where finished productswere stored.

Inspectors said the plant lacked adequate facilities forhand washing, and that a sinklocated in the peanut butter

Lynyrd Skynyrdpianist dead at 56LOS ANGELES: Lynyrd Skynyrdpianist Billy Powell (pix), one ofthe longest-serving members ofthe 1970s super group, has diedaged 56, the band announced onits website on Wednesday.

Powell, a survivor of the 1977plane crash in Mississippi thatclaimed the lives of six peopleincluding lead singer Ronnie VanZant, died on Tuesday, the state-

ment said without giving furtherdetails.

According to celebrity newswebsite TMZ.com, Powell died inthe southeastern state of Florida.

The Texas-born Powell workedas a roadie for Skynyrd during thegroup’s early years before hiskeyboard skills were noticed byVan Zant during preparations fora concert.

He appeared on the band’sdebut album and was part of thegroup’s meteoric success throughthe next four years, a period whichsaw them produce classic rockanthems including Sweet Home Alabama and Free Bird. – AFP

CIA chief accused of rape in AlgeriaWASHINGTON: The United

States is looking into allega-tions the CIA station chief in Algeria raped at least twoMuslim women after lacingtheir drinks with a drug, a State

room was used interchangeably forcleaning hands, utensils and washingout mops.

Dr Robert Tauxe of the US Centresfor Disease Control and Preventionconfirmed that none of the cases in thecurrent outbreak involve any strainother than Salmonella Typhimurium,and said CDC “is not seeing an increasein cases caused by these other strains.”

Tauxe said the most recent illness

occurred on Jan 9. “The outbreak isstill ongoing although the number of re-ported cases has decreased modestly.”

So far, 501 people from 43 states andone person in Canada have been sick-ened in the outbreak, 108 people havebeen hospitalised and there have beeneight reported deaths.

FDA officials said it is not yet clearhow many more products will be in-cluded in the expanded recall. “There is

certainly a potential that companies willhave to go back further in time to recallproducts,” Sundlof said.

He said the FDA was working with thecompany and industry groups to identifywhat products might be involved. It hasdirected consumers to check its websiteat http://www.fda.gov for updates. Therecall has already affected close to 200products in the United States, Canadaand Britain. – Reuters

 briefs

Department spokesman saidon Wednesday. A report byABC News said the CIA officer,a convert to Islam, was sentback to the United States afterthe women came forward withthe charges in September.

State Department spokes-

man Robert Wood referred ad-ditional questions to the JusticeDepartment, which declinedcomment. The department isheading the investigation, ABCreported. – Reuters

Teen killed forwearing rival T-shirtWELLINGTON: A New Zealandteenager was run over and killedby a gang member because his yellow T-shirt was the colour of arival gang, a newspaper reported yesterday. Jordan Herewini, 16,was run over twice in Murupara,a logging town in North Island,by his brother’s truck which hadbeen stolen by a visiting memberof the Mongrel Mob, the New  Zealand Herald reported.

The paper quoted residents as

saying that Herewini had earlierbeen in a scuffle with the visitorsover his yellow T-shirt, a colourassociated with the local rivalTribesmen gang. – dpa

Two Germans jailedfor racist attacksBERLIN: Two school pupils,aged 17 and 19, were sent toprison on Wednesday in Ger-many for anti-Muslim attackson homes.

 Judge Kai Dieckmann jailedthe younger for 46 months andthe older for 56 months afterconvicting them of attemptedmurder. No one was hurt in theattacks.

In one of the racist attackslast spring, a Turkish house-holder found a tent in hissuburban Berlin garden on fireand put out the flames. In theother attack, a lighted objectwas thrown at a Bosnian fami-ly’s house. – dpa