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Peanut Product Recall Rolls On

By PritzkerLaw

Dr. Stephen Sundlof of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration gave testimony this week in which he said more than 1,000 entries have been made into the agency's searchable database for product recalls related to the Salmonella Typhimurium outbreak.

Products in 16 categories made by more than 75 different companies are in the database and the recall list continues to grow. The list of potentially contaminated products includes tens of thousands of ready-to-eat meals warehoused by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA).

FEMA issued a photo of what a peanut butter pack looks like from those meals. The agency mistakenly shipped 168,000 of the recalled meal kits to ice storm victims in Kentucky and then warned people not to eat them.

The outbreak is in its sixth month and new cases continue to be confirmed. The latest count from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control is 575 illnesses in 43 states. CDC says the outbreak strain of Salmonella may have contributed to eight deaths, including three in Minnesota.

PritzkerOlsen Attorneys represents clients from the outbreak  including the families of two of the Minnesotans who died -- Shirley Mae Almer, 72, of Perham, and Doris Flatgard, 87, who had been living at a nursing home in Brainerd.

A PritzkerOlsen wrongful death peanut butter lawsuit  has already been fiiled in Hennepin County District Court on behalf of Almer's heirs. The lawsuit alleges negligence on the part of Virginia-based Peanut Corporation of America (PCA) and King Nut Companies, a distributor of PCA peanut butter. PritzkerOlsen president and founder Fred Pritzker said he will soon file a second wrongful death lawsuit for the family of Mrs. Flatgard.

Sundlof said in testimony this week that the FDA has additional evidence that PCA distributed products from its plant in Blakely, Georgia, knowing  that they had tested positive for Salmonella. Sundlof said FDA's Office of Criminal Investigation is continuing to probe the company's actions. Already the FDA has said that its inspectors have uncovered deficiencies that indicate the plant was not compliant with Current Food Manufacturing Practices required by FDA.

Full post as published by Food Poisoning Law Blog on February 07, 2009 (boomark / email).