Finally... Salmonella Officially Confirmed at Texas Plant
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It's official, the Texas health department confirms salmonella found in peanut meal at Peanut Corp. of America's Plainview plant is the same strain as the nationwide outbreak.
Texas health officials confirm salmonella was found in peanut meal at a Texas plant owned by the company at the center of the national salmonella outbreak.
Doug McBride, a spokesman for the Texas Department of State Health Services, said Wednesday that the salmonella found in a sample taken from the Peanut Corp. of America's Plainview plant Feb. 12 is the same strain as the nationwide outbreak.
That comes as federal officials have said that test results confirmed that peanut butter made from peanuts processed at the Texas plant also contains the same strain.
The plant had voluntarily closed Feb. 9 after a private lab sample showed likely salmonella contamination.
The Lynchburg, Va.-based Peanut Corp. of America filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy Feb. 13.
The day before, Texas health officials ordered an initial recall of all products ever shipped from the Panhandle plant after inspectors found dead rodents, feces and bird feathers in a crawl space above a production area.
More than 2,000 possibly contaminated consumer products have already been recalled in one of the largest product recalls ever.
State officials said they will try to force Peanut Corp. to pay for the cost of the recall.
Copyright Associated Press / NBC 5 Dallas-Fort Worth
Posted Friday, Jul 17, 2009 - 1:07 AM CST
