The Texas peanut company at the center of a nationwide peanut recall has been fined $14.6 million.
The Texas Department of State Health Services assessed the fine against the Plainview Peanut Co. for alleged violations of food safety regulations.
The department said the violations include unsanitary conditions, product contamination, and illnesses linked to consumption of peanuts from the plant.
The company also operated for almost four years without a food manufacturer’s license, the regulators said.
The plant was ordered to close in February and to recall all of the food products it shipped since opening in March 2005.