FDA holds safety hearing on 50-year-old painkiller

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Posted on 30th January 2009 by Gordon Johnson in Uncategorized

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Date: 1/30/2009

By RICARDO ALONSO-ZALDIVAR
Associated Press Writer

WASHINGTON (AP) — Call it the cold case file of drug safety.

Federal health officials convened a public hearing Friday on whether to ban Darvon, a painkiller first approved in 1957, when there were few alternatives for treating pain except aspirin and powerful narcotics.

Now mainly marketed as Darvocet, which includes a dose of acetaminophen, the drug remains one of the top 25 most commonly prescribed medications. More than 20 million prescriptions were written in 2007.

The consumer group Public Citizen said the FDA should withdraw Darvon from the market because the drug offers relatively weak pain relief and poses an overdose risk, with the potential to be used in suicides.

“It has unique risks and no unique advantages,” said Dr. Sidney Wolfe, a drug safety expert with Public Citizen who first sought a ban in the 1970s. “It has been a big drug of abuse for quite a long time.”

Two companies that market the drug — Xanodyne Pharmaceuticals and Qualitest/Vintage Pharmaceuticals— say the medication is safe and effective when used as directed. In documents filed with the FDA, the companies say doctors need a range of options to treat pain, and note that many other painkillers have become drugs of abuse.

Dr. Jerry Avorn, a professor of medicine at Harvard and a critic of the pharmaceutical industry, is glad the FDA is taking a hard look at Darvon.

“I have been astonished at how widely used this drug is,” Avorn said. “It’s no longer the most abusable and most dangerous drug in its class, but the fact that there are worse drugs doesn’t make Darvon a good drug.”

The United Kingdom banned its version of Darvon in 2005. The FDA, however, may take a more cautious approach, such as requiring stiffer warnings, safety studies or special education efforts aimed at doctors and patients.

The FDA awaited recommendations Friday from a panel of independent advisers.

In an analysis prepared for the hearing, the FDA’s safety office said it had searched the agency’s database of reported drug problems, but the result was “insufficient” to allow reviewers to make a clear-cut recommendation. The safety office found more than 3,000 reports of serious problems. The top three were suicide, drug dependence and overdoses.

In a separate analysis, the FDA office that handles painkillers said Darvon is a weak pain reliever. Most studies show that in Darvocet, the widely used combination drug, the Darvon component appears to contribute “little or no” additional pain relief beyond that provided by the acetaminophen component, reviewers said.

Wolfe presented the advisory panel with new data from the government’s Drug Abuse Warning Network, which tracks emergency room visits and deaths. It showed that Darvon-related deaths rose to 503 in 2007, from 446 in 2006. In both years, about 20 percent were suicides. The network covers only about one-third of the U.S. population.

Data from the Florida’s medical examiner reporting system showed that in 2007 Darvon was present in the bodies of 341 people who died from drug-related causes. Medical examiners identified it as the cause of death in 85 of the cases, or 25 percent.

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On the Net:

FDA meeting agenda: http://tinyurl.com/cg5k5a

Copyright 2009 The Associated Press.

Gov't launches criminal probe in peanut recall

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Posted on 30th January 2009 by Gordon Johnson in Uncategorized

Date: 1/30/2009

By SHARON THEIMER and RICARDO ALONSO-ZALDIVAR
Associated Press Writer

WASHINGTON (AP) — The government has opened a criminal investigation into the Georgia peanut-processing plant at the center of the national salmonella outbreak, federal officials said Friday.

Stephen Sundlof, head of the Food and Drug Administration’s food safety center, said the Justice Department will join FDA investigators in looking into possible criminal violations. The Peanut Corp. of America plant shipped allegedly tainted products to dozens of other food companies.

“It is an open investigation at this time,” said Sundlof. “We can’t really talk much about the investigation itself.”

More than 500 people have been sickened as a result of the outbreak, and at least eight may have died because of salmonella infections. More than 430 products have been pulled off the shelves in a recall that reaches to Canada and Europe.

In another development Friday, officials urged consumers to be cautious about “boutique” brands of peanut butter, which had not previously figured in the recall.

Although national brands of peanut butter are unaffected, some smaller companies may have received peanuts from the processing plant in Blakely, Ga., the FDA said.

Meanwhile, the White House pledged stricter oversight of food safety.

Press secretary Robert Gibbs said Friday that President Barack Obama plans to name a new FDA commissioner and other oversight officials in coming days. Gibbs said they will establish a “stricter regulatory structure” to prevent breakdowns in food safety.

“I think the revelations have no doubt been alarming,” said Gibbs. That a company which found salmonella in its own testing would continue to ship products “is beyond disturbing for millions of parents,” he added.

FDA officials said they last inspected the Blakely facility in 2001, when it wasn’t being used to make peanut butter.

It did not get much attention from the federal government again until earlier this year, when a shipment of peanuts from the plant was returned from Canada because it was contaminated with metal fragments. The FDA then asked Georgia authorities to inspect.

But the state inspections did not detect what FDA officials say was a salmonella problem at the plant dating back to at least June of 2007.

The return of the contaminated shipment of peanuts was first reported by the Associated Press.

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Copyright 2009 The Associated Press.

Peanut plant problem forces fresh recall

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Posted on 29th January 2009 by Gordon Johnson in Uncategorized

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Date: 1/29/2009

By RICARDO ALONSO-ZALDIVAR
Associated Press Writer

WASHINGTON (AP) — Worried about salmonella, the Army said Thursday it’s removing some peanut butter items from warehouses in Europe, the latest in an ever-growing list of recalled peanut products linked to a national salmonella outbreak.

Already more than 430 kinds of cakes, cookies and other goods in the civilian world have been pulled off store shelves in what the Food and Drug Administration is calling one of the largest product recalls in memory. The Army’s recall does not affect Meals-Ready-to-Eat, but another kind of military grub called Unitized Group Rations-A, which provide a complete 50-person meal.

More than 500 people have gotten sick in the U.S. outbreak, and at least eight may have died as a result of salmonella infection.

At the center of the investigation is a Georgia peanut processing plant where federal inspectors reported finding roaches, mold, a leaking roof and other sanitary problems.

Managers at the Blakely, Ga., plant owned by Peanut Corp. of America continued shipping peanut products even after they were found to contain salmonella, the FDA said. The company shipped the food items after retesting them and getting negative results.

Peanut Corp. expanded its recall Wednesday to all peanut goods produced at the plant since Jan. 1, 2007. The company makes just 1 percent of the peanut products sold in the United States, but those products are ingredients in hundreds of other foods, from ice cream, to Asian-style sauces, to dog biscuits. Major national brands of peanut butter are not affected.

A senior lawmaker in Congress and Georgia’s agriculture commissioner called for a criminal probe of the company, but the FDA said that would be premature while its own food safety investigation continues.

The company says it is fully cooperating with the government and has stopped all production at the plant. Peanut Corp. said in a statement it “categorically denies any allegations that the company sought favorable results from any lab in order to ship its products.”

Stewart Parnell, the firm’s president, said that the recall was expanded out of an abundance of caution.

“We have been devastated by this, and we have been working around the clock with the FDA to ensure any potentially unsafe products are removed from the market immediately,” Parnell said.

Most of the older products in the expanded recall have probably been eaten already. Officials said they see no signs of any earlier outbreaks from those goods.

The recall covers peanut butter, peanut paste, peanut meal and granulated products, as well as all peanuts — dry and oil roasted — shipped from the factory. FDA officials could not quantify the amount of products being recalled.

Officials recommend that consumers check the FDA web site, which lists all the products being recalled, and toss out any that are named.

Salmonella had been found previously at least 12 times in products made at the plant, but production lines were never cleaned after internal tests indicated contamination, FDA inspectors said in a report. Products that initially tested positive were retested. When the company got a negative reading, it shipped the products out.

That happened as recently as September. A month later, health officials started picking up signals of the salmonella outbreak.

Michael Rogers, a senior FDA investigator, said it’s possible for salmonella to hide in small pockets of a large batch of peanut butter. That means the same batch can yield both positive and negative results, he said. The products should have been discarded after they first tested positive.

Separately, senior congressional and state officials on Wednesday called for a federal probe of possible criminal violations at the plant.

The company’s actions “can only be described as reprehensible and criminal,” said Rep. Rosa DeLauro, D-Conn., who oversees FDA funding. “This behavior represents the worst of our current food safety regulatory system.”

In Georgia, the state’s top agriculture official joined DeLauro in asking the Justice Department to determine whether the case warrants criminal prosecution.

“They tried to hide it so they could sell it,” said Georgia Agriculture Commissioner Tommy Irvin. “Now they’ve caused a mammoth problem that could destroy their company — and it could destroy the peanut industry.”

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On the Net:

FDA’s recall page: http://tinyurl.com/8srctw

Copyright 2009 The Associated Press.

Lab confirmed salmonella for Georgia peanut plant

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Posted on 29th January 2009 by Gordon Johnson in Uncategorized

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Date: 1/29/2009

By RICARDO ALONSO-ZALDIVAR
Associated Press Writer

WASHINGTON (AP) — A lab company president called to testify before Congress in the salmonella outbreak investigation said Thursday that manufacturers “can’t retest away a positive result.”

Charles Deibel, whose labs conducted tests for Peanut Corp. of America, said that if 100 containers were tested and only one or two turned up salmonella, the company should “throw the whole lot out.”

Federal health officials say Peanut Corp. shipped tainted peanut products from its Blakely, Ga., facility after retesting them and getting a negative result for salmonella.

Peanut butter, peanut paste and other goods from the plant are being blamed for an outbreak that has sickened more than 500 people, triggered a massive international recall and raised doubts about the food industry’s safety practices.

Deibel said his company — Deibel Labs Inc. — did not conduct day-to-day testing for the Blakely plant, but was asked on occasion to carry out certain tests. He said the company has turned over bacterial cultures to federal investigators.

Deibel and the president of another lab, J. Leek Associates Inc., have been called to testify Feb. 11 before the House Energy and Commerce Committee. The Deibel firm has been in existence since the 1960s and has its main lab in Chicago.

Rep. Henry Waxman, D-Calif., chairman of the panel conducting a hearing into the outbreak, said the investigation shows “major gaps” in the nation’s food safety system.

“I am extremely troubled by reports that the plant tested positive for salmonella numerous times but nothing was done to ensure that the product did not go on the market,” Waxman said.

Peanut Corp., based in Lynchburg, Va., said in a statement it “categorically denies any allegations that the company sought favorable results from any lab in order to ship its products.”

Deibel said his firm is still poring over records to determine what kind of testing was done, and at what times, for Peanut Corp.’s plant.

He said his lab tested some salmonella cultures that came from the J. Leek lab and identified the specific variety of the bacteria that was present. Those cultures have been turned over to investigators from the Food and Drug Administration and the Centers for Disease Control.

Darlene Cowart, president of the J. Leek lab, was not available Thursday.

Deibel his lab also tested samples of peanut products sent directly from the Blakely facility, but that he did not have the results of those tests available.

Salmonella can exist in a dormant state in products like peanut butter, isolated in pockets of a big batch. So experts say it’s possible to get positive and negative results from the same batch.

“The benefit of using multiple labs is you increase your chances of finding it,” said Deibel.

“Our recommendation to clients is that you can’t retest away a positive result,” he added. “We call it ‘testing into compliance,’ and that is frowned upon.”

Meanwhile, the Army joined the peanut recall Thursday. It’s removing some peanut butter items from warehouses in Europe.

In the civilian world, more than 430 kinds of cakes, cookies and other goods have been pulled off store shelves in what the FDA is calling one of the largest product recalls in memory. The Army’s recall does not affect Meals-Ready-to-Eat, but another kind of military grub called Unitized Group Rations-A, which provide a complete 50-person meal.

Nationwide, at least eight people may have died of illnesses linked to the outbreak.

The recall covers peanut butter, peanut paste, peanut meal and granulated products, as well as all peanuts — dry and oil roasted — shipped from the factory. FDA officials could not quantify the amount of products being recalled.

Officials recommend that consumers check the FDA web site, which lists all the products being recalled. Consumers who find any such products in their cupboards should toss them away. If they’re uncertain about eating a particular product, they should check it out first.

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On the Net:

FDA’s recall page: http://tinyurl.com/8srctw

Copyright 2009 The Associated Press.

New Zealand dairy accepts milk scandal verdicts

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Posted on 24th January 2009 by Gordon Johnson in Uncategorized

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Date: 1/24/2009

WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) — New Zealand dairy Fonterra said Saturday it accepted a Chinese court’s conviction of 21 people blamed in a deadly contaminated milk scandal, but that it does not condone the death sentences handed to two of them.

Fonterra Group — which had owned 43 percent of China’s Sanlu Group at the center of the scandal — was responsible for alerting Chinese authorities in August that milk had been contaminated with the industrial chemical melamine. By December, Fonterra had written off its $200 million investment in the Chinese dairy group.

On Friday, a Chinese court sentenced to death cattle farmer Zhang Yujun and milk trader Geng Jinping for their parts in the scandal that killed at least six babies and left nearly 300,000 other children sickened. Melamine was added to watered down milk to make it appear to have a higher protein content.

A third man, Gao Junjie, was given a death sentence for endangering public safety, but it was suspended for two years, and may be commuted to life in prison.

The former Sanlu chairwoman, Tian Wenhua, was fined 24.7 million yuan ($2.9 million) and will spend the rest of her life behind bars.

“We accept the court’s findings but Fonterra supports the New Zealand Government’s position on the death penalty,” Fonterra Chief Executive Andrew Ferrier said Saturday. “Fonterra deeply regrets the harm and pain this tragedy has caused so many Chinese families.”

Prime Minister John Key said Friday that New Zealand “does not condone the death sentence, but we respect (China’s) right to take a very serious attitude to what was an extremely serious scandal.”

Sanlu has gone into receivership and the receiver has six months to sell the company’s assets.

Shijiazhuang-based Sanlu Group Co. in Hebei province was the first Chinese milk company to confirm melamine contamination in its infant milk formula products.

More than 30 Chinese dairy companies have since been implicated in the tainted milk scandal.

Fonterra, which controls more than 95 percent of New Zealand’s milk supply, is the country’s largest multinational business, its second-biggest foreign currency earner and accounts for more than 24 percent of the nation’s exports.

Copyright 2009 The Associated Press.

China: Parents of milk victims demand better deal

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Posted on 23rd January 2009 by Gordon Johnson in Uncategorized

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Date: 1/23/2009

By TINI TRAN
Associated Press Writer

BEIJING (AP) — Chinese parents whose children were sickened after drinking contaminated milk pushed the government for greater accountability and compensation Friday, a day after a court handed down two death penalties and long prison terms for 19 other defendants.

Milk formula laced with the industrial chemical melamine has been blamed for causing the deaths of at least six infants and sickening nearly 300,000 others with kidney stones and other problems.

Zhao Lianhai, a parent who has rallied families through a Web site he created that details the crisis, said Friday that he and three others were presenting a petition to the Ministry of Health.

The petition, signed by some 550 parents, calls for free medical care and follow-up services for all victims, reimbursement for treatment already paid for, and further research into the long-term health effects of melamine among other demands.

“Children are the future of every family, and moreover, they are the future of this country,” the petition said. “As consumers, we have been greatly damaged.”

But state television reported Friday that most of the families had accepted payouts offered by the 22 dairies responsible for the contamination under a government-led plan.

The report is indicative of the communist leadership’s eagerness to bring an end to the embarrassing scandal. It also appeared to be trying to portray parents who were rejecting the payments as out of step with the majority.

Jiang Yaling, a parent from Guizhou, said the parents who are asking for a better deal held a meeting with several Health Ministry officials on Friday. She said the officials pledged to “respect our petition” and process it quickly.

“It’s not a matter of what the officials say to us, but it’s a matter of what they do. If these demands are not met, my child could have a life span of only 10 years. What kind of life is that? My child is my everything,” Jiang said.

The Health Ministry did not immediately respond to a faxed list of questions from The Associated Press.

Jiang said the group also planned to submit the same petition to the China Dairy Association and China’s food safety regulators later in the day.

The 22 dairy companies involved in the scandal have proposed a 1.1 billion yuan ($160 million) compensation plan. Families whose children died would receive 200,000 yuan ($29,000), while others would receive 30,000 yuan ($4,380) for serious cases of kidney stones and 2,000 yuan ($290) for less severe cases.

The China Dairy Association said the distribution of compensation payments was nearly complete, and that than 262,000 families — or 90 percent of the official total — had accepted the dairies’ offers by Thursday, CCTV reported.

Calls to the dairy association rang unanswered.

Many parents who rejected the compensation payments say they were inadequate and complained that the plan did not have the families’ input.

On Thursday, 21 defendants blamed in the milk scandal were sentenced, including the former general manager and chairwoman of Sanlu Group Co., the dairy at the center of the scandal.

Tian Wenhua, 66, the highest-ranking executive charged in the food safety crisis, was given life imprisonment while three other company executives got sentences between five and 15 years.

Investigations showed that middlemen who sold milk to dairy companies including Sanlu were watering down raw milk, then mixing in melamine to make it appear to have a higher protein content.

One of those middlemen, Geng Jinping, who supplied hundreds of tons of melamine-tainted milk to Sanlu, was sentenced to death. Also condemned was Zhang Yujun, who ran a workshop that produced melamine-tainted powder branded as protein powder.

Copyright 2009 The Associated Press.

General Mills and Kroger pull peanut butter items

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Posted on 20th January 2009 by Gordon Johnson in Uncategorized

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Date: 1/20/2009

By EMILY FREDRIX
Associated Press Writer

MILWAUKEE (AP) — General Mills Inc. and grocers Kroger Co. and Safeway Inc. have joined the growing list of food companies and retailers pulling items made with peanut butter amid a salmonella outbreak.

The Food and Drug Administration has traced the outbreak to a Georgia plant owned by Peanut Corp. of America, which makes peanut butter and peanut paste and sells it to institutions and food companies. The outbreak may have contributed to the deaths of six people and sickened more than 470 others in 43 states.

The government has advised consumers to avoid eating cookies, cakes, ice cream and other foods containing peanut butter until health officials learn more about the contamination. Peanut butter sold in jars to consumers is not included, officials said.

The FDA has created a searchable list of recalled products and brands on the agency’s Web site.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said the bacteria behind the outbreak is common and not an unusually dangerous strain but that the elderly or those with weakened immune systems are more at risk. At least five of the six people who died were elderly. All had salmonella when they died, though their exact causes of death haven’t been determined.

The salmonella outbreak is the second in two years involving peanut butter. Salmonella is the nation’s leading cause of food poisoning; common symptoms include diarrhea, fever and abdominal cramps.

Peanut Corp. expanded its own recall Sunday to all peanut butter and peanut paste produced since July 1 at its plant in Blakely, Ga. The recalled products were distributed to institutions, food service industries and private label food companies in 24 states.

“We deeply regret that this product recall has expanded, and our first priority is to protect the health of our customers,” said Stewart Parnell, president of Peanut Corp.

Late Monday, Safeway said some of the products it makes, including Ready Pack Eating Right Kids Apples with Peanut Butter and Orchard Valley Harvest’s Organic Bark Peanut Butter Cookies and Cream, may use peanut butter involved in the recall and asked customers to throw them out or return them to the store for a full refund.

Kellogg Co. recalled 16 cracker and cookie products last week. The company said Monday that federal authorities have confirmed that salmonella was found in a single package of its peanut butter crackers: Austin Quality Foods Toasty Crackers with Peanut Butter, which had previously been recalled.

Other recently recalled items that contain peanut butter:

— Grocer Meijer, which operates 181 stores in Michigan, Indiana, Illinois, Ohio and Kentucky: Meijer brand Cheese and Peanut Butter and Toasty Peanut Butter crackers, Peanut Butter and Jelly and Peanut Butter Cup ice cream.

— Kroger, the nation’s largest traditional grocery chain: Private Selection Peanut Butter Passion Ice Cream sold in stores named City Market, Fred Meyer, Fry’s, King Scoopers, QFC and Smith’s in 11 states, primarily in the West. The company said the ice cream was not sold in its namesake Kroger stores or any other retailers it operates.

— General Mills: two flavors of snack bars, LARABAR Peanut Butter Cookie and JamFrakas Peanut Butter Blisscrisp.

— Clif Bar & Co.: Some Clif branded bars, including some under Luna and Clif Mojo labels.

— Abbott Nutrition: ZonePerfect Chocolate Peanut Butter bars, ZonePerfect Peanut Toffee bars and NutriPals Peanut Butter Chocolate nutrition bars. The items are sold in the U.S., Mexico, New Zealand and Singapore.

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On the Net:

FDA: http://www.fda.gov

Peanut Corp.: http://www.peanutcorp.com

Copyright 2009 The Associated Press.

Kellogg says FDA confirms salmonella in crackers

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Posted on 19th January 2009 by Gordon Johnson in Uncategorized

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Date: 1/19/2009

By EMILY FREDRIX
Associated Press Writer

MILWAUKEE (AP) — Kellogg Co. said Monday federal authorities have confirmed that salmonella was found in a single package of its peanut butter crackers, as a Midwestern grocer recalled some of its products because of the scare.

Kellogg had recalled 16 products last week because of the possibility of salmonella contamination.

On Monday, the company based in Battle Creek said that contamination was confirmed by the Food and Drug Administration in a single package of Austin Quality Foods Toasty Crackers with Peanut Butter.

Food companies and retailers have been recalling products with peanut butter in them because of suspicion of contamination amid a salmonella outbreak that has killed at least six people and sickened more than 470 others in 43 states. At least 90 people have been hospitalized.

Also Monday, Midwestern grocer and retailer Meijer Inc. said it was recalling two types of crackers and two varieties of ice cream because of the possibility of salmonella contamination: Meijer brand Cheese and Peanut Butter and Toasty Peanut Butter sandwich crackers, and Peanut Butter and Jelly and Peanut Butter Cup ice cream.

It was not immediately clear how many packages of Kellogg crackers had been tested, if more tests were being made on other products or if some had already been found not have salmonella, Kellogg spokeswoman Kris Charles said. A spokesman for the FDA said the agency was not providing any new information Monday.

The government on Saturday had advised consumers to avoid eating cookies, cakes, ice cream and other foods containing peanut butter until health officials learn more about the contamination.

Officials said that most peanut butter sold in jars at supermarkets appears to be safe.

Officials have been focusing on peanut paste and peanut butter made at Peanut Corp. of America’s plant in Blakely, Ga.

On Sunday, Peanut Corp. expanded its own recall to all peanut butter and peanut paste produced at the Blakely plant since July 1.

The company’s peanut butter is not sold directly to consumers but it is distributed to institutions and food companies. The peanut paste, made from roasted peanuts, is an ingredient in cookies, cakes and other products sold to consumers.

Meijer, based in Grand Rapids, said in a news release Monday it was issuing its recall because makers of its products had announced possible contamination. The products are sold in Meijer stores and gas stations in Michigan, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois and Kentucky.

The recall last week by Kellogg, the world’s largest cereal maker, affected products including Keebler Soft Batch Homestyle Peanut Butter Cookies, Famous Amos Peanut Butter Cookies and Keebler Cheese & Peanut Butter Sandwich Crackers. Charles said the recall affected more than 7 million cases of its products.

Kellogg Chief Executive David Mackay said the company would evaluate its processes “to ensure we take necessary actions to reassure consumers and rebuild confidence in these products.”

Salmonella, a bacteria, is the most common cause of food poisoning in the U.S., causing diarrhea, cramping and fever.

Over the weekend, Little Debbie maker McKee Foods Corp. of Collegedale, Tenn., issued a voluntary recall of its peanut butter crackers because of possible contamination.

Other companies issuing recalls recently include Midwest supermarket chain Hy-Vee Inc. of West Des Moines, Iowa, Perry’s Ice Cream Co. of Akron, N.Y., and the South Bend Chocolate Co. in Indiana. Ralcorp Frozen Bakery Products, a division of St. Louis-based Ralcorp, recalled several brands of peanut butter cookies it sells through Wal-Mart stores.

Some companies were quick to assure their customers their products were fine and they were not involved in the investigation. Russell Stover Candies Inc., maker of Russell Stover and Whitman’s, said Monday it does not use ingredients from Peanut Corp. ConAgra Foods Inc., maker of Peter Pan peanut butter, said Saturday it was not involved in the investigation and neither the Omaha, Neb.-based company nor its suppliers use ingredients from Peanut Corp.

Peter Pan and other peanut butter produced by ConAgra were linked in 2007 to a salmonella outbreak that sickened more than 625 people in 47 states. The company traced the contamination to a leaky roof and faulty sprinkler head at its Georgia plant.

Copyright 2009 The Associated Press.

213 China families take milk case to highest court

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Posted on 19th January 2009 by Gordon Johnson in Uncategorized

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Date: 1/19/2009

By GILLIAN WONG
Associated Press Writer

BEIJING (AP) — More than 200 families whose babies fell ill after drinking tainted infant formula said Monday they are taking their case to China’s highest court after being repeatedly ignored by lower courts.

The lawsuit involving 213 families poses a challenge to the government’s attempts to end one of the country’s worst food safety crises. The scandal over milk spiked with an industrial chemical has been blamed for the deaths of six babies and the sickening of nearly 300,000 others with kidney stones and kidney failure.

The 22 Chinese dairies involved have proposed a 1.1 billion yuan ($160 million) compensation plan, but many parents want higher compensation and long-term treatment for their babies.

“The reason why I’m bringing this case to court is not about money but about my child’s future,” said Zhang Ge, a single mother in Beijing who quit her job at an Internet advertising company to look after her sick son.

Beijing attorney Xu Zhiyong said lawyers for the families mailed an application Friday to the Supreme People’s Court in Beijing to sue the dairies.

But it seemed unlikely the court would hear the lawsuit, given that lower courts have so far refused to hear at least a dozen lawsuits in the politically sensitive scandal.

The lawyers’ group has not been notified if the application has been received. Phone calls to the inquiry office of the Supreme People’s Court rang unanswered Monday.

The government and the dairy companies had hoped the nationwide payout scheme would ease public anger. Instead, it has given embittered, outspoken parents across the country a common cause.

Xu said the lawsuit seeks 36 million yuan ($5.3 million) in total compensation for the families. It also demands payment of medical expenses incurred from tainted milk-related problems for the rest of the victims’ lives.

“The compensation being offered is just too little,” Xu said in a phone interview. “The parents are also not happy about the plan to give free medical care only till 18 years of age.”

Previous applications to sue Sanlu Group Co., the dairy at the center of the scandal, in lower courts in Hebei, where the company is based, were ignored, Xu said.

Investigations have found that milk suppliers added melamine, which like protein is rich in nitrogen, to watered-down milk to fool quality tests for protein content. Melamine, a chemical used to make plastics and fertilizers, can cause kidney stones and kidney failure.

Copyright 2009 The Associated Press.

Little Debbie peanut butter crackers recalled

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Posted on 18th January 2009 by Gordon Johnson in Uncategorized

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Date: 1/18/2009

WASHINGTON (AP) — The company that sells Little Debbie snacks announced a recall Sunday of peanut butter crackers because of a potential link to a deadly salmonella outbreak.

The voluntary recall came one day after the government advised consumers to avoid eating cookies, cakes, ice cream and other foods with peanut butter until health officials learn more about the contamination.

The announcement by McKee Foods Corp. of Collegedale, Tenn., about two kinds of Little Debbie products was the latest in a string of voluntary recalls following the most recent guidance by health officials.

McKee said it had not received any complaints about illnesses from people who ate any size peanut butter toasty sandwich crackers or peanut butter cheese sandwich crackers. The recall covers crackers produced on or after July 1.

Officials are focusing on peanut paste, as well as peanut butter, produced at a Blakely, Ga., facility owned by Peanut Corp. of America. Its peanut butter is not sold directly to consumers but distributed to institutions and food companies. But the peanut paste, made from roasted peanuts, is an ingredient in cookies, cakes and other products that people buy in the supermarket.

So far, more than 470 people have gotten sick in 43 states, and at least 90 had to be hospitalized. At least six deaths are being blamed on the outbreak. Salmonella is a bacteria and the most common source of food poisoning in the U.S., causing diarrhea, cramping and fever.

The Kellogg Co., which listed Peanut Corp. as one of its suppliers, has recalled 16 products. McKee said Kellogg manufactured the Little Debbie crackers covered by the recall.

The Kellogg products recalled include Austin and Keebler branded peanut butter sandwich crackers, and some snack-size packs of Famous Amos peanut butter cookies and Keebler Soft Batch Homestyle peanut butter cookies.

Late Saturday, the Midwest supermarket chain Hy-Vee Inc. of West Des Moines, Iowa, said it was voluntarily recalling products made in its bakery departments with peanut butter because they had the potential to be contaminated with salmonella. The recall covered seven states: Iowa, Illinois, Missouri, Kansas, Nebraska, South Dakota and Minnesota.

Perry’s Ice Cream Co., based in Akron, N.Y., said it was recalling select ice cream products containing peanut butter because of the PCA investigation. Its recall covered New York, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Maryland and Virginia.

Most peanut butter sold in jars at supermarkets appears to be safe, the Food and Drug Administration said Saturday.

Peanut Corp. has recalled all peanut butter produced at the Georgia plant since Aug. 8 and all peanut paste produced since Sept. 26.

Health officials are focusing on 30 companies out of a total of 85 that received peanut products from the Georgia plant.

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On the Net:

FDA: http://tinyurl.com/8srctw

Copyright 2009 The Associated Press.

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