Dead rodents, excrement in peanut processor lead to recall

[Prrkitty]

http://www.cnn.com/2009/US/02/12/peanut.butter.recall/index.html

Quote: The Texas Department of State Health Services on Thursday ordered the recall of all products ever shipped from the Peanut Corporation of America's plant in Plainview, Texas, after discovering dead rodents, rodent excrement and bird feathers in the plant.

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At this point, I'd say it's time to stop eating ANY peanut products. It's TOTALLY appalling to read of such findings in a company that supplies our food products.

Honestly... how can those managers and those "in the know" do what they did... knowing they put peoples' health at risk?

[Beldaran]

It's TOTALLY appalling to read of such findings in a company that supplies our food products.

Anyone who has done any research (I have done some but not lots) into where our food comes from in America will start to obsessive compulsively buy only fresh fruit, vegetables, and lean meats raised on organic farms. The things you will learn as you plumb the depths of our nation's food industry will cause your soul to shrivel.

Anyhow, I'm glad I never eat peanut butter.

[Prrkitty]

It's not just peanut butter... and the peanut paste produced at these companies. It's even the whole peanuts shipped from them also. I believe it's ANY products shipped from these companies.

Paul and I have started eating organic meat, milk, veggies and such... in hopes of eating "better for us" products.

[rock_nog]

Wow - I've been following this story for a while, and I've gotta say, it's un-freaking-believable that they would knowingly sell tainted food.

Anyway, I must say I feel this has really been unfair for other peanut companies. Apparently the whole industry is being hit pretty hard by this, because people are simply avoiding peanut products altogether. I mean, that's really gotta suck for the companies that aren't directly affected by the contamination.

[Shazza Dani]

I buy Smart Balance all-natural peanut butter. I don't believe that is one of the companies affected, but it doesn't matter to me because I haven't bought peanut butter in a few months.

[Zaphod Q. IX]

It's just extra protein. I don't know what you people are freaking out about.

Do you think the "organic" factory where your peanut butter is made is completely free of rodents or insects? Perhaps the "organic" fields where the peanuts are grown are free of rodents and insects as well...

I think not.

I've seen lots of bugs in corn fields...and I used to pick corn when I was 11 and 12...if you think that none of those bugs ever end up in your stomach then you are an idiot.

Now, I do feel that limits are a good thing...and if the inspector sees gross violations it should indeed end in closure of the facility in question, just like it did in the recent media-circus case...

Some people, however, are acting like it's the end of the world for a human to eat a mouse turd. Get over it...you've eaten them. So have I...

There are more important things to be upset about.
:shrug:

[Shazza Dani]

Natural peanut butter tastes bettah~ I didn't say I think they come from cleaner factories or anything like that, I only said I don't think that it was involved in this recall.

Of course, I didn't read the article before I made my post. I thought rats were taking shits in the peanut butter jars or summat. So dead rodents and excrement were "found in the plant"—what does that mean? They were just laying around? I'm sure they were. It's a factory, rats come with the environment. They poop. They die. =\ So I agree with you, Zaph. It doesn't sound like this crazy huge deal people are making it out to be.

[rock_nog]

Um... But this is the same company responsible for the salmonella outbreak, and rodents are a source of salmonella. It's a different plant, but come on - there is genuine reason for concern here.

[Nicholas Steel]

It's just extra protein. I don't know what you people are freaking out about.

Do you think the "organic" factory where your peanut butter is made is completely free of rodents or insects? Perhaps the "organic" fields where the peanuts are grown are free of rodents and insects as well...

I think not.

I've seen lots of bugs in corn fields...and I used to pick corn when I was 11 and 12...if you think that none of those bugs ever end up in your stomach then you are an idiot.

Now, I do feel that limits are a good thing...and if the inspector sees gross violations it should indeed end in closure of the facility in question, just like it did in the recent media-circus case...

Some people, however, are acting like it's the end of the world for a human to eat a mouse turd. Get over it...you've eaten them. So have I...

There are more important things to be upset about.
:shrug:
but there is wind and rain to wash all the crap away right? there's only wind in the factories crawl space and it blows concentrated amounts of the crap into a room (IE: a place that has walls on all sides, a roof and a floor so the stuff doesn't dissipate.) where all the food is.

[Beldaran]

It's just extra protein. I don't know what you people are freaking out about.

Guess what? Infectious bacteria is not a good source of protein.

[Cloral]

It's just extra protein. I don't know what you people are freaking out about.

Do you think the "organic" factory where your peanut butter is made is completely free of rodents or insects? Perhaps the "organic" fields where the peanuts are grown are free of rodents and insects as well...

I think not.

I've seen lots of bugs in corn fields...and I used to pick corn when I was 11 and 12...if you think that none of those bugs ever end up in your stomach then you are an idiot.

Now, I do feel that limits are a good thing...and if the inspector sees gross violations it should indeed end in closure of the facility in question, just like it did in the recent media-circus case...

Some people, however, are acting like it's the end of the world for a human to eat a mouse turd. Get over it...you've eaten them. So have I...

There are more important things to be upset about.
:shrug:

So I guess 9 people dying from eating their tainted products is something none of us should worry about, right? Shame on us for making this case into a circus!

[rock_nog]

Oh, and just as a precaution, buying local, fresh, organic, etc. does not mean that your food is free of contaminants. Manure fertilizer can spread e.coli, insects and rodents still get caught up in crops in harvesting, etc. The important thing is that regardless of where you get your food, wash it thoroughly and/or cook it to the appropriate temperature. But then again, you do have an advantage if you're not buying processed crap in that you KNOW your food is being washed/prepared correctly if you do it yourself.

[Modus Ponens]

Guess what? Infectious bacteria is not a good source of protein.

It's funny, when I read Zaph's post, I thought he was saying peanut butter was "just extra protein", and he didn't know what the fuss was about because people could easily stop eating it.

[Prrkitty]

rock nog... that was more my point in saying we were buying/eating more organic stuff. We buy locally, properly hand/wash/cook/etc our food... hoping to bypass all the bad stuff.

[Zaphod Q. IX]

So I guess 9 people dying from eating their tainted products is something none of us should worry about, right? Shame on us for making this case into a circus!
I didn't see anywhere in that article where it said 9 people died. If that is the case, then I stand corrected. Obviously, if people are dying, then it's more serious than just a little rodent hair and feces.

[rock_nog]

I didn't see anywhere in that article where it said 9 people died. If that is the case, then I stand corrected. Obviously, if people are dying, then it's more serious than just a little rodent hair and feces.
Technically, it was a different plant, but the same company. It is significant, however, because rodents carry salmonella. So the peanuts from this plant could easily get contaminated this way.

[Cloral]

I didn't see anywhere in that article where it said 9 people died. If that is the case, then I stand corrected. Obviously, if people are dying, then it's more serious than just a little rodent hair and feces.

Yeah, I guess it was a different plant. But yes, people have died from the rash of tainted peanut butter products.

[Prrkitty]

Both plants (1 in Georgia & 1 in Texas) are owned by the company Peanut Corp of America. Oh and I just saw on one of the news sites that PCofA is now filing for Chapter 7 bankruptcy. I BET they're trying to avoid any civil suits brought by anyone from the salmonella issues/sickness...

<blah> screw 'em... nail the company and ANY of the "guilty" workers to the wall!! I realize not all the workers are guilty of anything... but ANYONE that worked there knew that the conditions they worked under were unsafe, unsanitary and unsecured. And the fact that no one told ANYONE... just boggles my mind.

[Masamune]

The only way out of this shitty economical situation is to sue the fuck out of everyone.

[Dechipher]

The only way out of this shitty economical situation is to sue the fuck out of everyone.

I'm suing WarLord. I could have been doing so much more with my last 8 years. Instead I've been bumming around here.
So.....peace, bitches. :D

[Zaphod Q. IX]

Both plants (1 in Georgia & 1 in Texas) are owned by the company Peanut Corp of America. Oh and I just saw on one of the news sites that PCofA is now filing for Chapter 7 bankruptcy. I BET they're trying to avoid any civil suits brought by anyone from the salmonella issues/sickness...

<blah> ... but ANYONE that worked there knew that the conditions they worked under were unsafe, unsanitary and unsecured. And the fact that no one told ANYONE... just boggles my mind.
Whoa...I listened to NPR's piece on this company on my way to work, and after hearing the whole story, I'm pretty thoroughly disgusted as well.

I'm looking for a list of the recalled peanut items right now so I can go through my pantry and throw away any items that may be tainted. Yuk.

It is pretty surprising that none of their employees blew the whistle...

[Beldaran]

It is pretty surprising that none of their employees blew the whistle...

Yeah, I wonder why a bunch of illegal Mexicans didn't just call the cops.

[Shazza Dani]

Beldaran, if you know who works in the plant, you must have been there. Am I right? So why didn't YOU call when you saw the rat feces everywhere? HMMMMMMM?

[Archibaldo]

Screw that, I'm not going off peanut butter. Just like what Beldaran said, if you dig deep into how all the food is actually made, you'll never want to eat it again, but I've been eating said food all my life and I turned out fine.

[erm2003]

Remember the whole tainted milk problem in China last year? The Chinese government actually sentenced two of the people responsible to death for continuing to sell a product they knew had problems with it which resulted in deaths. While I certainly don't agree with a lot of things the Chinese government does, it sure would make the food industry think twice if it happened here. The one plant is in Texas, so if they did trace the outbreak back to that plant, I suppose they could charge someone with murder for the 6 deaths if they knew about the problem and it went unreported.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timeline_of_the_2008_Chinese_milk_scandal
See the note for January 22, 2009.

[Prrkitty]

The salmonella strain was directly found in the Georgia plant. I think the Texas plant, which hasn't been inspected for ever 5 years (if ever), was shuttered because of unsanitary conditions. I'm not sure if they've found salmonella at the Texas plant yet.

[Anthus]

I heard the cause was bird shit from a leaky roof in the plant.

[Pryme8]

That's why I buy and eat only Organic foods.

[Shazza Dani]

That's why I don't eat. *dies*