Peanut plant did not wait for outside testing: FDA

By Julie Steenhuysen

CHICAGO (Reuters) - A peanut plant in Georgia at the center of an outbreak of salmonella shipped out products managers knew might have been tainted without waiting for a second set of lab tests showing they had fixed the problem, U.S. health officials said on Friday.

U.S. Food and Drug Administration officials said they have amended their inspection report of the Peanut Corp of America plant in Blakely, Georgia, because it became clear that the company had not waited for outside testing to confirm their products were safe.

The salmonella outbreak traced to the plant has sickened at least 575 people, more than half of them children, and may be linked to eight deaths.

The peanut outbreak is the latest in a series of incidents involving lettuce, peppers and spinach that have eroded public confidence in food safety and renewed calls for change at FDA by the Government Accountability Office, consumer groups, the food industry, Congress and the Obama Administration.

Michael Rogers, the FDA''s director of the division of field investigation, said in a telephone interview the agency amended its so-called 438 inspection report after a review of documents provided by the company turned up some inconsistencies in the company''s initial analysis.

He said the investigators found "certain information provided during the investigation was not consistent with their original analysis of the records."

Rogers said the amended report "identifies that in some instances, peanut products were shipped by PCA prior to having assurance that the products were negative for salmonella. In some instances, that included the shipment of products prior to any test result being officially received by the firm."

And in at least some cases, he said the inspectors found "evidence of peanut products that were shipped after the receipt of a positive lab test result for salmonella and prior to the receipt of a negative lab result."

Peanut Corp of America was not immediately available for comment.

Under law, a company does not have to notify the FDA agency if it discovers salmonella or other contamination. The PCA plant found 12 instances of salmonella since 2007.

The only time the FDA can request information from a plant is if product was shipped.

The plant''s products were not sold at retail, but in industrial-sized cans of peanut butter used by schools and other institutions, and in peanut products used to make snacks, pet treats and other foods.

FDA''s Dr. Stephen Sundlof said the new inspection report does not change the status of the recall, but said it represents additional information the agency will consider as its investigation proceeds.

"We have an investigation both from the regulatory side and the criminal side. This information will just feed into that," Sundlof said in a telephone interview.

So far, more than 1,300 products have been pulled from store shelves in what is considered one of the biggest food recalls in U.S. history.  Continued...