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Jersey Company Refuses to Recall Peanut Products

By PritzkerLaw

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration is warning consumers not to eat peanuts and peanut-derived products from a New Jersey company after the firm took the unusual stance of refusing to issue a voluntary product recall.

The firm at the center of the controversy is Westco Fruit and Nuts Inc. of Irvington, N.J., a seller of nuts and nut mixes under the Westco/Westcott name. The company bought three shipments of oil roasted salted redskin jumbo peanuts from Peanut Corporation of America (PCA)  in November and December, a peak time in the Salmonella Typhimurium outbreak caused by PCA.

The FDA said in a news release that it formally requested Westco/Westcott  to voluntarily recall all of its products containing nuts from PCA. Westco/Westcott repackaged the nuts in various size and packaging configurations, including trail mixes, between November 19 and Dec. 30, 2008. 

Peanuts, peanut butter and other peanut-derived products made by PCA are viewed by federal authorities as the cause of an ongoing Salmonella outbreak that has infected more than 691 people in 46 states. The outbreak strain of bacteria may have contributed to nine deaths, including three in Minnesota and two in Ohio.

National food safety law firm PritzkerOlsen Attorneys represents the families of three of the deceased victms and has filed a Salmonella wrongful death lawsuit against PCA and King Nut Companies, a distributor.

Reporter Brian Hartman of ABC News interviewed Jacob Moradi, owner of Westco/Westcott. Moradi said a recall would put his private company out of business and the FDA has no proof that anyone got sick from eating whole redskin peanuts roasted in oil.

"These people are basically doing it to cover their a**,'' Moradi said. " FDA is doing this to cover their a**.''

When Moradi was asked by ABC News if a recall by his firm would be worth it if it saved a life, he said: "If there was a tiny little possibility, yes. But the fact is that nobody has gotten sick earning whole peanuts.''

Overall, the FDA's investigation into the distribution of potentially contaminated products sold by PCA has resulted in recalls of more than 3,491 products made by at least 275 companies.

Full post as published by Food Poisoning Law Blog on March 23, 2009 (boomark / email).