More On The Nationwide Salmonella Outbreak! Mildew Was Found At Peanut Butter Processing Plant!

As a former gourmet grocery store clerk,I want to warn the public.I will not name the place of business because,frankly,there was more than one with sanitation issues.One example I will give has to do with a sandwich bar.We all love to eat out once in awhile.Don't you just love those places where you can see the person prepare your food? You know it's sanitary,right? Well,I wouldn't be so certain about that.Not unless I've seen how & where they store the "fresh" food. Because where I worked,they built a reputation based on "freshness". Oftentimes the food was not being rotated properly,which meant that new stuff went on top of the old.In the sandwich bar I worked at,there was also a huge problem with sanitation.There was mold & mildew underneath the refrigerator drawers that stored the food products.When I complained, all I was told was that I could clean it if I was so worried about it. Needless to say, the place closed after only 4 years of operating.Not because it was a health risk with sanitation issues.The business failed because of horrific management.

So,what happened in this case? Inspectors had been reporting sanitation issues for almost 3 years at the Georgia plant where mildew was found. Here's more from CNN:

"Inspectors found mildew on a ceiling and other problems last year at a peanut butter producing plant in Georgia that has been linked to a salmonella outbreak, according to reports released Monday by the state Department of Agriculture.

But the owner of the Blakely, Georgia, plant -- Virginia-based Peanut Corp. of America -- described the problems as "relatively minor and for the most part corrected on site."

PCA this month stopped production at the Blakely plant and launched a nationwide recall of peanut butter and peanut paste made there after July 1, 2008.

The New York Times reported Monday that Georgia agriculture inspection reports from 2006 and 2007 depicted a series of sanitation lapses in the Blakely plant.

Citing an inspection report from August 23, 2007, the Times noted at least three incidences in which "food-contact surfaces" were "not properly cleaned and sanitized."

In an apparent response to the Times article, PCA released a statement saying, "When the observations were noted during inspections by the Georgia Department of Agriculture, corrective action was taken immediately where possible and subsequently when immediate action was not possible."

The statement, which PCA sent to CNN accompanied by a copy of a state inspection report from last October, said "the most recent inspection observations by the state [the October inspection report] were relatively minor and for the most part corrected on site."(END OF EXCERPT)Read the rest here:http://www.cnn.com/2009/HEALTH/01/26/peanut.butter.plant/index.html?iref=mpstoryview