GARANCE BURKE
Associated Press Writer

TERRA BELLA, Calif. (AP) — The salmonella scare that prompted a blanket federal warning against eating pistachios may have erupted because contaminated raw nuts got mixed with roasted nuts during processing, the company at the center of the nationwide recall said Tuesday.

Lee Cohen, the production manager for Setton International Foods Inc., said the company does not believe pistachios were contaminated by a human or animal source in its plant. He said the company suspects that roasted pistachios sold to Kraft Foods Inc. may have become mixed at Setton’s plant with raw nuts that could have contained traces of the bacteria.

The pistachios were processed at central California-based Setton Pistachio of Terra Bella Inc., which is in the corporate family of Commack, N.Y.-based Setton International Foods Inc. Cohen is in California to help as the Food and Drug Administration inspects the nation’s second-largest pistachio processor.

Kraft spokeswoman Laurie Guzzinati said her company’s auditors “observed employee practices where raw and roasted nuts were not adequately segregated and that could explain the sporadic contamination.”

She said she didn’t know what they saw specifically, but “that’s how the auditors shared the information with us.”

Federal health officials warned people on Monday not to eat any products containing pistachios while they investigate.

The FDA said Setton Pistachio, the nation’s second-largest pistachio processor, was voluntarily recalling more than 2 million pounds of its roasted nuts shipped since last fall. Some of those nuts were shipped to Norway and Mexico, officials said Tuesday.

“We know that the farm in California shipped its products to 36 wholesalers,” said Dr. David Acheson, assistant commissioner for food safety. “But what we don’t know yet is what those wholesalers did with them — whether they were repackaged for consumers, or whether they were sold to manufacturers making ice cream or cookies or candies.”

Two people called the FDA complaining of gastrointestinal illness that could be associated with the nuts, but the link hasn’t been confirmed, Acheson said. Still, Setton decided to shut down the Terra Bella plant late last week, officials said.

The FDA learned about the problem March 24, when Kraft Foods Inc. notified the agency that routine product testing had detected salmonella in roasted pistachios. Kraft and the Georgia Nut Co. recalled their Back to Nature Nantucket Blend trail mix the next day.

Kraft expanded its recall this Tuesday to include any Planters and Back to Nature products that contain pistachios supplied by Setton Pistachio since Sept. 1.

“Safety is our top priority,” Guzzinati said. “We’re proud of our quality and the procedures we have in place. This is always a place we look for continuous improvement. In this instance when it was brought to our attention we were able to act and respond.”

The recalled nuts are a small fraction of the 55 million pounds of pistachios that the company’s plant processed last year and an even smaller portion of the 278 million pounds produced in the state in the 2008 season, according to the Fresno-based Administrative Committee for Pistachios.

California is the second-largest producer of pistachios in the world.

The latest recall is not related to the nationwide recall of peanuts.

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Associated Press reporter Tracie Cone in Fresno contributed to this report.

Copyright 2009 The Associated Press.

GARANCE BURKE
Associated Press Writer

FRESNO, Calif. (AP) — Federal food officials are warning people not to eat any food containing pistachios because of possible contamination by salmonella, in another food scare sure to rattle consumers already upset by the contamination of peanuts with the same bacteria.

The Food and Drug Administration said central California-based Setton Pistachio of Terra Bella Inc., the nation’s second-largest pistachio processor, was voluntarily recalling more than 2 million pounds of its roasted nuts shipped since last fall.

“Our advice to consumers is that they avoid eating pistachio products, and that they hold onto those products,” said Dr. David Acheson, assistant commissioner for food safety. “The number of products that are going to be recalled over the coming days will grow, simply because these pistachio nuts have then been repackaged into consumer-level containers.”

Two people called the FDA complaining of gastrointestinal illness that could be associated with the nuts, but the link hasn’t been confirmed, Acheson said. Still, the plant decided to shut down late last week, officials said.

The recalled nuts are a small fraction of the 55 million pounds of pistachios that the company’s plant processed last year and an even smaller portion of the 278 million pounds produced in the state in the 2008 season, according to the Fresno-based Administrative Committee for Pistachios.

California is the second-largest producer of pistachios in the world.

According to the company’s Web site, Setton Pistachio is in the corporate family of Commack, N.Y.-based Setton International Foods Inc. The company sells nuts, dried fruit, edible seeds, chocolate and yogurt-coated candies.

The FDA learned about the problem last Tuesday, when Kraft Foods Inc. notified the agency that routine product testing had detected salmonella in roasted pistachios. Kraft and the Georgia Nut Co. recalled their Back to Nature Nantucket Blend trail mix the next day.

The FDA contacted Setton Pistachio and California health officials shortly afterward, in what Acheson called a “proactive move.”

By Friday, Cincinnati-based grocery operator Kroger Co. recalled one of its lines of bagged pistachios because of possible salmonella contamination, saying the California plant also supplied its nuts. Those nuts were sold in 31 states.

Fabia D’Arienzo, a spokeswoman for Tulare County-based Setton Pistachio, said the company was only recalling certain bulk roasted in-shell and roasted shelled pistachios that were shipped on or after September 1.

Because Setton Pistachio shipped bags of nuts weighing up to 2,000 pounds to 36 wholesalers across the country, it will take weeks to figure out how many products could be affected, said Jeff Farrar, chief of the Food and Drug Branch of the California Department of Public Health.

“It will be safe to assume based on the volume that this will be an ingredient in a lot of different products, and that may possibly include things like ice cream and cake mixes,” Farrar said. “The firm is already turning around trucks in transit to bring those back to the facility.”

Salmonella, the most common cause of food-borne illness, causes diarrhea, fever and cramping. Most people recover, but the infection can be life-threatening for children, the elderly and people with weakened immune systems.

Roasting is supposed to kill the bacteria in nuts. But problems can occur if the roasting is not done correctly or if roasted nuts are re-contaminated. That can happen if mice, rats or birds get into the facility.

The national peanut salmonella outbreak was blamed on a Georgia company under federal investigation for flouting safety procedures and knowingly shipping contaminated peanuts.

That outbreak is still ongoing. More than 690 people in 46 states have gotten sick. Nearly 3,900 products made with peanut ingredients from Peanut Corp. of America have been recalled.

California public health authorities have taken hundreds of samples at Setton’s processing facility, but lab results have not yet determined whether salmonella was found at the plant, Farrar said. The food companies’ own tests of the contaminated products isolated four different types of salmonella, but none were the same strain as the one found in the peanuts, Acheson said.

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Associated Press writers Ricardo Alonso-Zaldivar in Washington and Tracie Cone in Fresno contributed to this report.

___

On the Net:

http://www.settonfarms.com

http://www.fda.gov

Copyright 2009 The Associated Press.

NOTE: The Seattle Post Intelligencer has posted an article which reports:

“The company at the center of a nationwide pistachio recall says the salmonella contamination could have come from raw nuts during processing but not a human or animal source in its plant.”

Read their entire article at:
http://www.seattlepi.com/national/1110ap_salmonella_pistachios.html

By RICARDO ALONSO-ZALDIVAR
Associated Press Writer

WASHINGTON (AP) — The top official at Kellogg’s, the giant food-maker who lost $70 million worth of peanut products in the recent salmonella outbreak, is urging lawmakers to overhaul the nation’s food safety system.

Kellogg Company CEO David Mackay wants food safety placed under a new leader in the Health and Human Services department. He also called for new requirements that all food companies have written safety plans, annual federal inspections of facilities that make high-risk foods, and other reforms.

Mackay’s strong endorsement of major changes could boost President Barack Obama’s efforts to overhaul the system. Last week Obama launched a special review of food safety programs, which are split among several departments and agencies, and rely in some cases on decades-old laws. Critics say more funding is needed for inspections and basic research.

“The recent outbreak illustrated that the U.S. food safety system must be strengthened,” Mackay said in prepared remarks for a hearing Thursday. “We believe the key is to focus on prevention, so that potential sources of contamination are identified and properly addressed before they become actual food safety problems.”

A copy of his statement for the House Energy and Commerce Committee was obtained by The Associated Press.

The salmonella outbreak has sickened at least 691 people, and is being blamed for nine deaths. The source was a small Georgia peanut processing plant, which allegedly shipped products that managers knew were contaminated with salmonella.

The plant produced not only peanut butter, but peanut paste, an ingredient in foods from granola bars and dog biscuits, to ice cream and cake. More than 3,490 products have been recalled, including some Kellogg’s Austin and Keebler peanut butter sandwich crackers. The Georgia plant has been shut down and its owner, Peanut Corp. of America, is under criminal investigation by the Justice Department.

Mackay said Kellogg’s had to recall more than 7 million cases of crackers and cookies, at a cost of $65 million to $70 million. Kellogg’s began purchasing peanut paste from Peanut Corp. in July, 2007, after the supplier passed quality checks and audits.

“Audit findings reported no concerns that the facility may have had any pathogen-related issues or any potential contamination,” Mackay said in his statement. “None of the salmonella or hygiene issues that have been reported by regulators over the past several months were noted in any of the audit reports provided to Kellogg.”

FDA inspectors swooped down on the Georgia plant in January and found multiple sanitary violations. The problems included moisture leaks, improper storage and openings that could allow rodents into the facility. FDA tests found salmonella contamination within the plant. After invoking bioterrorism laws, the FDA obtained Peanut Corp. records that showed the company’s own tests repeatedly found salmonella in finished products.

How persistent problems at the Georgia plant managed to escape the attention of state inspectors and independent private auditors is one of the main unanswered questions in the investigation.

Mackay’s call for a food safety “authority” within the HHS department appears similar to legislation from Rep. Rosa DeLauro, D-Conn. Her plan would take food safety away from FDA and give it to a new agency within the department. The FDA is responsible for most foods, while the Agriculture Department inspects meat and poultry. DeLauro’s plan would not affect the USDA.

Copyright 2009 The Associated Press.

By DANNY ROBBINS
Associated Press Writer

DALLAS (AP) — A Texas agriculture inspector failed to note that a peanut plant at the center of a national salmonella outbreak was operating without a state health department license despite at least three visits in the years before hundreds of people got sick, according to interviews and documents obtained by The Associated Press.

The inspector responsible for certifying the plant to process organic products noted after each visit that the plant had such a license when it didn’t. Health officials said problems at the plant operated by Peanut Corp. of America might have been flagged years ago had the inspector, who has since been fired, reported the plant’s failure to obtain the required license.

When the plant was finally inspected earlier this year, Texas health officials found dead rodents, rodent excrement and bird feathers in a crawl space above a production area, leading them to order a recall of all products the plant had shipped since 2005.

Tests have since shown that ground peanuts at the Plainview plant were contaminated with the same strain of salmonella that sickened more than 650 people, is suspected of causing at least nine deaths, and led to one of the largest product recalls in U.S. history. Salmonella has also been detected in peanut samples from a Georgia plant operated by Peanut Corp., which has filed for bankruptcy amid fallout from the outbreak.

Texas Department of Agriculture spokesman Bryan Black said if the lack of a license had been properly noted, the department would have denied it organic certification and notified the Department of State Health Services. The inspector, Gaylon Amonett, was fired on Feb. 13, the day after state health officials ordered the recall.

“We trust our inspectors to do their jobs,” Black said. “Any time they do not follow the protocol, it is inexcusable.”

Because the Plainview plant was not licensed, state health officials have said they had no record it existed and never sent their own inspectors to the facility to check for possible food safety problems. All food manufacturers in the state are required to obtain a license from the state health department.

Amonett, a 22-year TDA employee who worked out of the agency’s Lubbock office, acknowledged that he checked “yes” to the question of whether the Plainview plant had records showing it was in compliance with health codes on worksheets he completed for inspections in 2005, 2006 and 2008.

The reason he checked “yes” the first time, he said, was because a plant manager told him an application for state health department licensing had been completed and was in the hands of Peanut Corp. officials at the company’s headquarters. He said he continued to check “yes” in succeeding years because he assumed that the license was granted.

Amonett said the matter was his “only mistake” in his years as an inspector. Agriculture department records show that he received a merit raise on Jan. 1.

“It’s an inadvertent mistake, and I’m sorry for it,” he said.

Jack McCasland, environmental inspector for the Plainview-Hale County Health Department, said plant officials led him to believe the licensing process was under way when he visited the facility before it opened.

“To be honest, I never really thought to follow up on it,” McCasland said. “It just never occurred to me that they wouldn’t be (licensed).”

Organic certification allows companies to market products as organically grown or produced. Processors must meet standards set by the U.S. Department of Agriculture and are monitored by a USDA-accredited entity. The Texas Department of Agriculture has served as a certifying agency since 2002.

In a memo about the Plainview matter, TDA assistant general counsel Jim Pollard wrote that Amonett was trained as an organic inspector in 2004. Under agency rules, inspectors are required to make sure a company’s licenses and other records are complete and current. The memo, obtained by the AP through a request under the Texas Public Information Act, cited the three inspections by Amonett.

TDA declined to release the inspection reports, contending that they are exempt from disclosure under the information act.

Although food safety is technically not part of the organic certification process, the salmonella outbreak has prompted the USDA to direct organic certifying entities to report any health or safety violations to the appropriate government officials.

“While we do not expect organic inspectors to be able to detect salmonella or other pathogens, their potential sources should be obvious from such evidence as bird, rodent and other animal feces or other pest infestations,” the directive stated.

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Associated Press writer Betsy Blaney contributed to this report from Lubbock, Texas.

Copyright 2009 The Associated Press.

By MIKE STOBBE
AP Medical Writer

ATLANTA (AP) — Next time you have a case of diarrhea that lasts a day or more, chances are better than one in three that it was food poisoning.

As many as a quarter of Americans suffer a foodborne illness each year — though only a fraction of those cases get linked to high-profile outbreaks like the recent salmonella-peanut scare, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

“Outbreaks are dramatic instances,” says Dr. Robert Tauxe, a CDC expert on the subject. But they highlight a health threat that many people exaggerate and misunderstand, according to some experts.

Scientists have counted more than 250 food-related types of illness — from viruses to bacteria to parasites. Most common are Norwalk-like viruses — famous for sickening cruise-ship passengers. They account for about two-thirds of known food-poisoning cases, according to the CDC.

Two types of bacteria, campylobacter and salmonella, are the next most common. Campylobacter is blamed for about 14 percent of food poisonings, salmonella for roughly 10 percent.

The exact toll of these and other bugs is not really known.

Ten years ago, a team of CDC scientists put together the best enduring estimate of how many Americans get food poisoning each year: 76 million illnesses, which resulted in 325,000 hospitalizations and 5,000 deaths.

No more recent figures are available. But the current numbers must be close to 87 million cases, 371,000 hospitalizations and 5,700 deaths, according to an Associated Press calculation that used the CDC formula and current population estimates.

The statistics seem even more alarming in the context of a parade of high-profile food-poisoning outbreaks in recent years: salmonella poisoning linked to hot peppers and tomatoes from Mexico that sickened more 1,400 last year; an E. coli outbreak from bagged spinach in 2006; and even deadly cases of hepatitis A from green onions in 2003.

The recent peanut-related salmonella outbreak has caused more than 640 confirmed illnesses in 44 states and been linked to nine deaths. It was traced to a Virginia-based company, Peanut Corp. of America, which makes minor-label peanut butter, peanut paste and other products.

Those numbers just scratch the surface: A case is confirmed only after a lab test is sent to the CDC. Many sick people just soldier on without even seeing a doctor.

Health officials assume that for every salmonella case, there are three dozen unreported cases. By that calculation, the latest peanut-related outbreak actually has sickened closer to 20,000 people.

But the problem could be a lot worse.

The number of confirmed food poisonings has basically held steady in recent years. It may seem worse because more advanced testing allows investigators to better link cases and identify outbreaks, CDC officials said.

Also, despite sometimes dramatic problems in food production and inspections, the U.S. food supply is still considered one of the safest in the world, several experts said.

Food poisoning affects an estimated 25 percent of Americans every year. That compares with roughly 30 percent of people in industrialized countries, according to the World Health Organization. The toll, of course, is much higher in developing countries, where diarrheal diseases are a major cause of death for children.

But not all of our food comes from within our borders, as demonstrated by last summer’s vegetable-caused outbreak.

“I usually say it is one of the safest in the world,” said Tauxe, when asked about the U.S. food supply. “But increasingly, our food supply is the world.”

Patients suffering gastric distress sometimes assume food poisoning, partly because of all the outbreak news and partly because it’s human nature, some doctors said.

“I think a lot of people in general say, ‘I have symptoms. I must have eaten something that’s caused this,’” said Dr. Andi Shane, a pediatric infectious disease specialist at Atlanta’s Emory University.

Patients may not consider an infection came from some other means, like handling a contaminated tissue, she said.

Some may also find the latest outbreak unsettling because it involved a prepackaged food like peanut butter, said Dr. Akiko Kimura, an epidemiologist with the California Department of Public Health.

“It’s ready-to-eat, and so there wasn’t anything the consumer could do,” she said.

Food disease investigators say their experience has made them careful to wash their hands, review restaurant inspection reports and think carefully about the foods they eat.

“I am fond of many foods, but I draw the line at eating raw meat and raw poultry, raw oysters and raw unpasteurized eggs,” said the CDC’s Tauxe.

“I run the cutting boards through our dishwasher,” he added.

___

On the Net:

CDC’s frequently asked questions on foodborne illness: http://tinyurl.com/2fpjx

Copyright 2009 The Associated Press.

By MIKE STOBBE
AP Medical Writer

ATLANTA (AP) — Most Americans know about a peanut-based national salmonella outbreak but many are wrong about what products are involved and few have confidence in food safeguards, according to a Harvard survey released Friday.

About 1 in 4 of those polled mistakenly think that national peanut butter brands are involved in the product recalls, but fewer than half are worrying about recalled snack bars, baked goods, ice cream and dry-roasted peanuts.

The recall of 1,900 products includes mainly minor-label peanut butter and a range of other items, but not major brand names of jarred peanut butter.

“A lot of people have taken some precautions but they’re not looking at the ingredients in products not related to peanut butter,” said Robert Blendon, the Harvard health policy professor who directed the survey.

About 93 percent know about the outbreak and recall, and most of them understood it was caused by salmonella bacteria — an unusually high level of awareness for a public health issue, Blendon noted.

The poll also indicated little faith in corporations and the government. Only 1 in 3 Americans said they have a good or great amount of confidence in food manufacturers or government inspectors to keep food safe, the survey found.

Federal health officials are tracking a salmonella outbreak that has caused at least 636 illnesses in 44 states and has been linked to 9 deaths. The outbreak has been traced to a Virginia-based company, Peanut Corporation of America, that makes some minor-label peanut butter, peanut paste and other products.

Nearly 200 food makers who used or sold Peanut Corporation products are listed in a recall of more than 1,900 different items, making this one of the nation’s largest recalls.

The telephone survey, which dialed both landline and cell phone numbers, included nearly 1,300 U.S. adults. The interviews were done last week.

Of those that knew about the outbreak, 70 percent knew that peanut butter crackers were part of the recall.

There was not a question about all brands of peanut butter. But a question about major national brands indicated 25 percent mistakenly thought they were involved and had been recalled.

Only about half correctly identified some snack bars containing peanut paste as part of the recall. Just a little more than a third understood that some candy and prepackaged meals were involved, and only about a quarter identified some types of ice cream as a risk.

Fewer than 1 in 5 people have gone to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s online list of foods involved or sought other information about recalled products.

The survey also indicated extremes of concern and apathy: About 31 percent contacted friends or relatives to make sure they know about the recall, and about 15 percent stopped eating any foods containing peanuts. But 69 percent didn’t contact loved ones, and 45 percent continued to eat all peanut-containing foods.

The survey also found that 33 percent of all survey respondents were very worried or somewhat worried about getting food poisoning, which was down a bit from the 38 percent who expressed such concern in a similar poll last June.

“We don’t know why the level of overall worry about food safety did not increase,” Blendon said. One possible factor: “About the peanut thing, some people say they are not worried because they’re taking precautions,” he said.

The poll also found that 37 percent had a good or great amount of confidence in government food inspections, down from 47 percent a year ago. About 48 percent had significant faith in grocery stores to safeguard food, down from 58 percent a year ago.

Only 32 percent had significant confidence in food manufacturers. There was no similar question on last year’s poll to compare that result to.

The negative reviews may be due in part to increasing success in tracking food problems, said Glen Nowak, a spokesman for the Atlanta-based U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Although the number of confirmed food poisonings has held about steady in recent years, more advanced testing allows investigators to better link cases and identify national outbreaks.

“The system is going to look less safe,” Nowak said.

Harvard is funded by the CDC to do a series of surveys on public health topics. The Harvard poll was conducted by ICR of Media, Pa., and had a margin of error of plus or minus 3.5 percentage points.

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On the Net:

Harvard School of Public Health: http://www.hsph.harvard.edu/

Copyright 2009 The Associated Press.

By BRETT J. BLACKLEDGE and SUE LINDSEY
Associated Press Writers

LYNCHBURG, Va. (AP) — A little over a month ago, Stewart Parnell was telling friends and clients just how good things were in his peanut business. He was spending time with his grandchild, looking forward to some more hunting and getting his boat out on the water.

Today, the man forever associated with the deadly salmonella outbreak is more the recluse, staying close to the house he bought here more than 14 years ago, when it was still surrounded by pastures. Parnell is telling those same friends and clients not to call, not to visit, not to do anything that might link them to the firestorm he’s facing.

In his hometown in central Virginia, Parnell is known as a respected businessman. But the image of a benevolent peanut tycoon contrasts markedly with what investigators said occurred inside the processing plants of Peanut Corp. of America. Worried about profits, they said, Parnell fired off jaw-dropping e-mails to employees amid reports that salmonella had been detected in his products: “Turn them loose.”

Reconciling the Jekyll-and-Hyde tale of Stewart Parnell, 54, and his contaminated peanuts carries important consequences for food protection reforms already being considered in Washington. Was Parnell a hapless businessman whose mistakes revealed seams in the government’s safety net? Or does the system require a more extensive overhaul to identify companies that might knowingly deliver tainted ingredients?

Those close to Parnell said he’s not a monster, just a person who has made mistakes.

“I haven’t condemned him yet,” said Eddie Marks, who runs a Virginia storage company and has known Parnell for 15 years.

For nearly five minutes before being dismissed, Parnell listened Wednesday as U.S. lawmakers described him as greedy and uncaring, indifferent to the impact his beleaguered business has had on the lives of so many. He repeatedly invoked his constitutional right not to say anything that could be used against him.

Parnell isn’t talking now, not to reporters or congressmen who pelted him with questions about whether his Georgia plant was responsible for 600 illnesses and nine deaths across the country. Nearly 200 food makers who used or sold Parnell’s products are listed on a recall of more than 1,900 items, making this one of the nation’s largest recalls.

His appearance before a House subcommittee was the first opportunity to put a face to the latest food contamination scare: a round, slightly swollen, seemingly sleepless face of a man fidgeting in his seat, or tapping his fingers on the desk before him, or folding his arms awkwardly, or jerking his head to the side as if he heard his name called.

“I’m assuming he will talk when the time is right,” said his brother Michael of Midlothian, Va.

Texas health officials this week told him to shut his plant there and ordered a recall Thursday of all its products after salmonella was discovered, along with “dead rodents, rodent excrement and bird feathers.”

This is not the man Charles Pond knew when he sold him his Suffolk, Va., peanut business in 2001. Parnell leases Pond’s building and makes monthly payments for equipment.

“He’s been slow to pay on some of it, but other than that, we’ve never seen any problems like this,” Pond said.

Parnell has had a long, successful run in the peanut business, starting with his father and two younger brothers in 1977. They took a struggling, $50,000-a-year peanut roasting operation and turned it into a $30 million business before selling in 1995. Parnell once boasted about the company on his Web site.

Parnell continued working as a consultant to the business after the family sold it, and in 2000 he left to buy his own peanut plant again in Texas. In 2001, he bought the Blakely, Ga., operation after teaming up with a financial backer, David Royster III of Shelby, N.C.

Pond said Royster supplied the money, Parnell supplied the experience for the Georgia and Virginia peanut businesses.

Royster did not returned repeated calls for comment over several days made to his office and home by The Associated Press.

Friends of Parnell said there is more to him than what the public has seen. He is a father to two grown daughters, a pilot of more than 30 years, an avid hunter, a reliable contributor to local charities, a man who has spent more than three decades in his business.

“He’s an amazing person,” said Nancy Weaver, a neighbor of Parnell’s. Weaver called a reporter to defend Parnell, to say he’s just being maligned and misunderstood. But she, like others close to him, declined to discuss him further when a reporter knocked on the door.

The public record portrays a different man, someone who repeatedly has faced problems in his business years before it became ground zero for the salmonella outbreak.

In 1990, federal inspectors found toxic mold in products produced in Parnell’s peanut company in Virginia that forced a recall of the food, according to a 1992 lawsuit filed in Virginia. Parnell settled the case with two companies that had products contaminated.

In 2001, inspectors found peanuts may have been exposed to pesticides, and in 2006 Parnell’s company hired a consultant to help resolve a salmonella problem at the Georgia plant.

Parnell is not a fly-by-night operator, said Eddie Marks, the Virginia businessman and Parnell client. Parnell’s client list includes some of the nation’s largest food companies — Kellogg, Frito-Lay, Jenny Craig, Sara Lee.

“I think you can look at his customer base and determine that he’s been well-recognized,” Marks said.

Michael Smith, purchasing manager for Stapleton-Spence Packing Co. in Gridley, Calif., has bought peanuts from Parnell for years and describes him as “one of the nicest guys in the world.”

Smith said he recently sent Parnell an e-mail expressing support, and in less than five minutes Parnell responded.

“He said, ‘I have one thing for you: Take care of yourself, your family and your business.”

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Blackledge reported from Washington. Associated Press writers Greg Bluestein in Atlanta and Sharon Theimer in Washington contributed to this report.

Copyright 2009 The Associated Press.

By RICARDO ALONSO-ZALDIVAR and BRETT J. BLACKLEDGE
Associated Press Writers

WASHINGTON (AP) — A congressional committee issued a subpoena Tuesday for the top executive of a small company that allegedly shipped the tainted peanut products responsible for a national salmonella outbreak.

The House Energy and Commerce Committee voted to compel Peanut Corp. of America President Stewart Parnell to appear at a hearing Wednesday, as a wide-ranging investigation focuses on who was responsible for an outbreak that has sickened at least 600 people and may have contributed to eight deaths.

“Hopefully, people are going to be held accountable,” said Rep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., chairman of the committee’s investigations panel. The full committee approved the subpoena by voice vote, without opposition.

Stupak says he wants know how Peanut Corp. managed to sell allegedly tainted goods month after month without triggering action by state and federal health authorities.

The family-owned company, now under FBI investigation, makes only about 1 percent of U.S. peanut products. But its ingredients are used by dozens of other food companies, and the list of recalls now tops 1,840 foods.

Also on the witness list for the hearing is Sammy Lightsey, manager of Peanut Corp.’s facility in Blakely, Ga., which produced and shipped the peanut butter and peanut paste blamed for the outbreak.

Federal law forbids producing or shipping foods under conditions that could harm consumers’ health.

Peanut Corp.’s troubles mounted this week as the FBI raided corporate headquarters in Lynchburg, Va., as well as the Georgia plant. On Monday night, the company closed a second facility, in Plainview, Texas, after test results found earlier in the day indicated salmonella was present in samples taken at the Texas plant. None of the products had been distributed to consumers, but the finding raised the prospect of a broader recall.

Further testing is needed to confirm the results, said Doug McBride, spokesman for the Texas Department of State Health Services.

After the results came back Monday, the FDA sent inspectors back to the Texas plant to check more thoroughly for signs of problems similar to those found at the Georgia plant, which has been identified as the source of the salmonella outbreak.

The company has said it is still investigating what happened and has expressed regret and concern for people who became ill. It is not clear whether Parnell will testify on Wednesday or assert his constitutional right to not answer questions that may incriminate him.

A Food and Drug Administration inspection report found that the company shipped peanut products that tested positive for salmonella on 12 occasions from 2007-2008.

In some cases, Peanut Corp. got a second test before shipping that did not find salmonella. But in other cases, the company did not wait for the results of a second test before sending out its products, the FDA report said.

And, in one 2007 case, the company shipped chopped peanuts after getting a positive test result for salmonella, the FDA said.

“No matter what the tests are, they don’t care — they are shipping the product,” said Stupak.

Executives of two labs that tested products for Peanut Corp. also were expected to testify Wednesday.

One of them, Charles Deibel, president of Deibel Laboratories, said in a previous interview that his company advises its clients they “can’t retest away a positive result.”

Stupak said he thinks the labs had an ethical responsibility to report the problems to authorities.

“It’s not the written law, but there’s a responsibility there,” he said.

There’s plenty of blame to go around, he added. “Responsibility includes the FDA, it includes Parnell, it includes the plant managers, it includes Georgia officials,” Stupak said.

Peanuts started out as a family business for Parnell, 54. He, his brothers Hugh Jr. and Mike, and their father, Hugh Parnell Sr., founded the company in the mid-1970s.

Hugh Parnell Sr. said Tuesday his lawyers told him not to comment on the outbreak or his son’s company. The elder Parnell said he left the business nearly 20 years ago.

“Naturally, we’re all quite upset,” Parnell said Tuesday in a brief telephone interview.

The Parnells focused the company on the candy, ice cream and confection industries, according to material previously published on the Peanut Corp.’s Web site. The company at one point employed more than 95 workers in three states and had gross annual sales of more than $30 million.

“I have been in the peanut business since 1976 and providing a quality product at a fair cost has been the credence our business has grown up with for the past 28 years,” Stewart Parnell previously was quoted on the company’s Web site as saying.

Peanut Corp. is also under fire from an insurer. In a federal lawsuit filed in Virginia last week, the Hartford Casualty Insurance Co. argued that Peanut Corp.’s actions may have negated its insurance coverage.

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Associated Press writers Ann Sanner and Sharon Theimer contributed to this report.

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On the Net:

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

Copyright 2009 The Associated Press.

By KATE BRUMBACK
Associated Press Writer

ATLANTA (AP) — Private lab tests show there may have been salmonella at a second plant operated by the peanut company at the center of a national outbreak, but the potentially tainted products were not sent to consumers, Texas health officials said Tuesday.

The Peanut Corp. of America temporarily closed its plant in Plainview, Texas, Monday night at the request of health officials after the tests found “the possible presence of salmonella” in some of its products, the Texas Department of Health said in a statement.

The Texas plant produces peanut meal, granulated peanuts and dry roasted peanuts. Texas state health officials said that possibly contaminated peanut meal and granulated peanuts had not been sent to customers. Potentially contaminated dry roasted peanuts were shipped to a distributor, but were caught before reaching the public, state officials said.

The company is being investigated in connection with an outbreak that has sickened 600 people and may have caused at least eight deaths. More than 1,840 possibly contaminated consumer products have been recalled.

Peanut Corp. closed its plant in Blakely, Ga., last month after federal investigators identified that facility as the source of the salmonella outbreak. Company spokeswoman Amy Rotenberg did not immediately return a call seeking comment Tuesday.

The Texas closing came a day after the FBI raided the company’s plant in Georgia, hauling off boxes and other material. Agents executed search warrants at both the plant and at Peanut Corp.’s headquarters in Lynchburg, Va., according to a senior congressional aide with knowledge of the raids. The official spoke only on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak publicly on the matter.

During their investigation at the Georgia plant, Food and Drug Administration inspectors found roaches, mold, a leaking roof and other sanitation problems. They also found two strains of salmonella. Though different from the outbreak strain, the discovery of the bacteria at the plant signalled a hole in food safety.

The FDA said last week the company knowingly shipped salmonella-laced products from the Georgia plant after tests showed the products were contaminated. Federal law forbids producing or shipping foods under conditions that could make it harmful to consumers’ health.

FDA spokeswoman Susan Cruzan said the agency is still investigating the Plainview facility. It was not immediately known if the discovery would lead to broader product recalls. Cruzan said the FDA is searching records to see where products from the Plainview plant may have been distributed.

“The FDA has collected its own samples and is awaiting lab results,” Cruzan said. Initially, agency officials had indicated that the salmonella problems seemed to be limited to Peanut Corp.’s Georgia plant.

An Associated Press investigation last week revealed that the Texas plant, which opened in March 2005 and was run by a subsidiary, Plainview Peanut Co., operated uninspected and unlicensed by state health officials until after the company came under investigation last month by the Food and Drug Administration.

Doug McBride, spokesman for the Texas Department of State Health Services, said Peanut Corp. agreed to shut the plant voluntarily as it works with the state agency.

Plainview Mayor John Anderson said Tuesday the Texas plant employed about 30 people. It was not immediately clear how they would be affected by the suspension.

“I’m just very sorry to hear that,” Plainview Mayor John Anderson said Tuesday when a reporter called with news of the suspension. “Hopefully it’s just a temporary suspension. That’d be the best of all worlds.”

The company, which also operates a small plant under the name Tidewater Blanching in Suffolk, Va., sold its peanut butter to institutional clients, such as nursing homes, and its peanut paste to many other companies that used it as an ingredient in products ranging from cookies and ice cream to energy bars and pet treats. While the company initially said its products weren’t sold directly to consumers, it said Sunday that some were sold directly to discount retailers.

Food safety attorney Bill Marler, one of several attorneys who have filed civil lawsuits against the company since the outbreak started, said it was the latest disturbing turn for Peanut Corp.

“It is clear that PCA is not a producer that companies could — or can — rely on for a safe product,” he said.

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Associated Press Writers Brett Blackledge and Ricardo Alonso-Zaldivar in Washington, Greg Bluestein in Atlanta and Betsy Blaney in Lubbock, Texas contributed to this report.

Copyright 2009 The Associated Press.

By KATE BRUMBACK
Associated Press Writer

ATLANTA (AP) — Shoppers are leaving jarred peanut butter off their grocery lists, according to sales figures, even though familiar brands have not been affected by the salmonella outbreak that has sickened hundreds and led to one of the largest product recalls in U.S. history.

To fight the sales slump, the makers of Jif and Peter Pan have countered with a costly advertising campaign aimed at reassuring nervous eaters.

Jarred peanut butter sales during the four weeks ending Jan. 24 dropped 22 percent from the same period the previous year, according to figures compiled by The Nielsen Company, which tracks consumer purchasing decisions. The 33.8 million pounds of peanut butter includes jars sold at food, drug and mass merchandisers, but not Wal-Mart stores.

Although more recent data weren’t available Monday, hundreds more products have been recalled since the period measured by Nielsen, making the peanut industry’s woes even more visible to consumers. As a result, some consumers say they’re avoiding peanut butter entirely.

“I just stopped because I didn’t want to risk anything happening,” said Kate Labrecque, 24, as she ate lunch in a downtown Atlanta park. She said she’s waiting until “they put something out that says it’s safe to eat stuff with peanuts.”

Federal investigators have linked peanut products made at Peanut Corp. of America’s southwest Georgia peanut processing plant to the salmonella outbreak that has sickened 575 people and may have caused as many as eight deaths.

On Monday, the FBI raided the plant in Blakely, Ga., hauling off boxes and other material. Agents executed search warrants at both the plant and at Peanut Corp.’s headquarters in Lynchburg, Va., according to a senior congressional aide with knowledge of the raids. The official spoke only on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak publicly on the matter.

The Lynchburg, Va.-based company sold its peanut butter to institutional clients, such as nursing homes, and its peanut paste to many other companies that used it as an ingredient in products ranging from cookies and ice cream to energy bars and pet treats. While the company initially said its products weren’t sold directly to consumers, it said Sunday that some of its products — including dry and honey-roasted nuts — were also sold directly to consumers at the retailers 99 Cent Stuff, 99 Cents Only Stores, Dollar General, and Dollar Tree Stores.

Leading brands of jarred peanut butter, however, aren’t part of the scandal, and their makers have found themselves scrambling to spread that message to shoppers.

J.M. Smucker Co., which makes Jif peanut butter, has received about 40,000 phone calls from concerned customers since reports surfaced that the bacteria outbreak was linked to peanut butter, said spokeswoman Maribeth Badertscher.

“We’re doing what we can to make sure consumers know our products are safe,” she said.

Smuckers and ConAgra Foods Inc., the maker of Peter Pan, have both taken out half-page newspaper ads in papers around the country telling consumers their products are completely safe and featuring coupons for savings on a jar of their peanut butter.

“Consumers have been confused by the media and are uncertain about what products are safe,” said Stephanie Childs, a spokeswoman for ConAgra. “We’ve been very clear to consumers about the safety of our products and the reasons that we can be sure our products are safe.”

Those reasons — echoed by Smuckers and Skippy manufacturer Unilever — include stringent product safety and quality control measures and the fact that they do not buy any products from Peanut Corp.

But for some shoppers, those companies’ efforts haven’t sunk in yet.

“I have stopped totally eating or purchasing peanut products until I get more information this problem is solved,” said Atlanta resident Michael Jackson, a 59-year-old printer who adds that he loves peanut butter.

In Pittsburgh, Cindy Connelly mistakenly bought peanut butter-filled pretzels, and her husband promptly tossed them in the trash.

“Hopefully there’ll be more control over this kind of thing and it’s not worth getting sick over it,” said the 55-year-old hospital admissions official in Pittsburgh.

But industry officials say consumers can easily check which products are and aren’t safe. In addition to the list of recalled products on the Food and Drug Administration’s Web site, the American Peanut Council, an umbrella trade association that represents all segments of the U.S. peanut industry, has put a list on its own Web site of products that are safe to eat.

“The vast majority of peanut products, or products containing peanuts, are safe,” said council president Patrick Archer. “If consumers have any doubt, they should check with the manufacturer.”

And some consumers are doing just that.

Retirees Ray Pfeifer, 60, and his wife Kathleen, 61, had peanut butter on their grocery list when they stopped at a Giant Eagle grocery store in Pittsburgh Monday. Ray Pfeifer had checked the online listings before leaving the house and knew his preferred brand, Smuckers Natural Peanut Butter, was OK.

“I’m off peanuts but I’m not off peanut butter,” he said. “I’m just looking to see where it’s from.”

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Associated Press Writers Johnny Clark in Atlanta, Jim Drinkard in Washington and Ramit Plushnick-Masti in Pittsburgh contributed to this report.

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On the Net:

FDA, http://www.fda.gov

American Peanut Council, http://www.peanutsusa.com

Peter Pan peanut butter, http://www.peterpanpb.com

Jif peanut butter, http://www.jif.com/home.asp

Skippy peanut butter, http://www.peanutbutter.com

Peanut Corp. of America, http://www.peanutcorp.com

Copyright 2009 The Associated Press.