Washington DC (ChatterShmatter) – As the search for the tainted peanut butter continues the investigation uncovered yesterday that some of the products shipped by the Peanut Corp of America failed internal tests, which showed the presence of bacteria in the peanut butter.
So far the FDA has found records from the PCA plant in Blakely, GA that recorded the contamination of the bacteria salmonella in 12 instances of it’s ingredients or finished product. Even after finding the bacteria the products were shipped without delay to clean the plant, machines or product thereby violating federal food safety regulations.
In defense of PCA the FDA officials did state that some of the tainted product had been tested again by a third party and was found to be clean, though it is unclear why the product was not destroyed after the first positive test.
As a result of the negligence 501 people in 43 states have been sickened by the bacteria and eight people have died. The most hard hit by the outbreak is in children since half of those infected are younger than 16 and 21% are younger than 5.
The FDA’s investigation continues while it is still not clear whether PCA will face some form of criminal charges due to it’s negligence once the investigation is complete. However it is hard to argue that the result of the in-action taken by PCA not only violated the law but also will almost certainly result in law suits of some form.
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