The Associated Press: Tests nipped risk of tainted pistachios in bud

Tests nipped risk of tainted pistachios in bud

Thursday, April 2, 2009

By: Garance Burke

TERRA BELLA, Calif. (AP) — A nationwide recall of 2 million pounds ofpistachios in the wake of a salmonella scare has increased calls formore stringent food testing laws.

Tests nipped risk of tainted pistachios in bud

Thursday, April 2, 2009

By: Garance Burke

TERRABELLA, Calif. (AP) — A nationwide recall of 2 million pounds ofpistachios in the wake of a salmonella scare has increased calls formore stringent food testing laws.

The contamination was only detected because of voluntary testing bya manufacturer for Kraft Foods Inc. almost two weeks ago. Privateauditors hired by Kraft later found problems they think caused thecontamination at a supplier's processing facility in central California.

If Kraft had not chosen to prioritize testing, 2 million pounds ofpistachios that touched off government warnings and a scare this weekprobably would still be on the market. Neither the Food and DrugAdministration nor state laws require food manufacturers to test thesafety of their products.

"We're relying on companies to find the contaminated foods on theirown, and since there's no national standards for this, some companiesdon't bother to test at all," said Rep. Diana DeGette, D-Colo., acritic of the nation's food safety system. "What if these nuts had beendistributed by a company that doesn't test? We wouldn't have found outuntil people got sick."

DeGette and numerous other lawmakers want the FDA to monitortesting in all segments of the processed food industry, and forcompanies to be required to release test results.

Federal health officials warned people this week to avoid eatingall pistachios and products containing them while they determine whichproducts may be tainted. The nuts Kraft manufacturer Georgia Nut Co.tested on March 20 came from Setton Pistachio of Terra Bella Inc., thesecond-largest pistachio processor in the nation.

Inspection reports obtained by The Associated Press on Wednesdayshow the California plant had two minor violations when inspectorsvisited last year, none serious enough to cause a health risk. But thecompany's sister plant in New York failed a surprise inspection lastmonth after state authorities found cockroaches and rodent droppings. Aspokesman for both companies said the Terra Bella plant suppliespistachios to the facility in Commack, N.Y., but he declined to commentfurther.

The investigation of contaminated pistachios contrasts sharply withthat in the salmonella outbreak that began late last year involvingpeanuts, the subject of a criminal investigation and thousands ofrecalls.

The problem was not traced to peanuts until hundreds of peoplearound the country got sick. The company involved, Peanut Corp. ofAmerica, is under criminal investigation for allegedly shippingproducts it knew to be tainted. The company's owner has refused toanswer questions from lawmakers, citing constitutional protectionsagainst self-incrimination.

Private industry reported the pistachio problem immediately, ratherthan waiting for public health officials to intervene. And as ofWednesday, authorities had not confirmed any illnesses.

"You can call it a fluke, you can call it good luck, or you can call itgood judgment on the part of Kraft," said Dr. David Acheson, FDA'sassistant commissioner for food safety. "They're not required to tellus. They did and we're moving on it."

Acheson said the FDA does not mandate testing so companies are freeto decide whether to take that step before distributing food productsto stores.

Officials with the Grocery Manufacturers Association, an industry groupthat represents major food manufacturers, say Kraft has one of the mostaggressive food safety systems in the business.

But they say getting the government to require testing of all foodsis not the answer, since different foods are at risk of becomingcontaminated at very different steps in the manufacturing process.

"You don't want to do testing just for the sake of doing testing,"said the association's chief science officer, Robert Brackett. "Thattends to be this one-size-fits all situation where it may work reallywell for some products and not for others. What we really focus on isfor companies to build the safety into their programs in the firstplace."