ATLANTA — Health officials in Texas say lab tests show there may have been salmonella at a shuttered Texas plant operated by the peanut company linked to a national outbreak.
Texas health officials say the Peanut Corp. of America temporarily closed its plant in Plainview, Texas, after private test results found “the possible presence of salmonella” in some of its products.
Texas health officials said it does not appear that any of the possibly contamintated products reached consumers. The Texas plant produces peanut meal, granulated peanuts and dry roasted peanuts.
Peanut Corp.’s Blakely, Ga., plant is blamed for a salmonella outbreak that has sickened 600 people and may have caused at least eight deaths.
Earlier today, the company said in a statement it was voluntarily suspending operations at its Plainview plant while state and federal health officials investigate procedures and food safety records there. The facility is operated by a subsidiary, Plainview Peanut Co.
An Associated Press investigation last week revealed that the Plainview plant, which opened in March 2005, operated uninspected and unlicensed by state health officials until after the company came under investigation last month by the Food and Drug Administration..
Doug McBride, spokesman for the Texas Department of State Health Services, said Peanut Corp. agreed to shut the plant voluntarily as it works with the state agency.
Peanut Corp. closed its plant in Blakely, Ga., last month after federal investigators identified that facility as the source of the salmonella outbreak. The company also operates a small plant under the name Tidewater Blanching in Suffolk, Va.
The Texas closing comes a day after the FBI raided the plant in Georgia, hauling off boxes and other material. Agents executed search warrants at both the plant and at Peanut Corp.’s headquarters in Lynchburg, Va., according to a senior congressional aide with knowledge of the raids. The official spoke only on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak publicly on the matter.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported today that the number of cases linked to the current outbreak has reached 600, with one case in Florida bringing the number of affected states to 44. It also may have contributed to eight deaths.
“I’m just very sorry to hear that,” Plainview Mayor John Anderson said today when a reporter called with news of the suspension. “Hopefully it’s just a temporary suspension. That’d be the best of all worlds.”
He said the plant employed about 30 people. It was not immediately clear how the suspension would affect them.
Plainview, a city of about 22,000, is about 48 miles north of Lubbock and relies heavily on agriculture for its livelihood.
“They’ve been very good citizens of ours,” said David Evans, executive director of the Hale County Industrial Foundation, the county’s economic development body. “I can’t say a bad word about them.”
Food safety attorney Bill Marler, one of several plaintiff’s attorneys who has filed civil lawsuits against the company since the outbreak started, said it was the latest disturbing turn for Peanut Corp.
“It is clear that PCA is not a producer that companies could — or can — rely on for a safe product,” he said.
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