(Ed. Note: The commercial brands of peanut butter, Jiff and Peter Pan, are “safe” according to FDA officials. Check the FDA Recall list if you have any doubt about food already in your house or a food you plan to buy.)

….”only since last month has the (Georgia)  inspectors’ manual told them specifically how to ensure the safe processing of a more everyday fare: peanuts,” reports the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

Sen. Saxby Chambliss (R-Ga.), a great advocate for peanut farmers, is co-sponsoring a bipartisan bill introduced to bring the Food and Drug Administration up to the challenges it faces now.

As the senator said at the time the bill was introduced, the American people need to be able to trust that the food on the table is safe.

The conservative senator from Georgia is willing to stand up and say the FDA has to work right and if it costs money, so be it.

Please note that this story is about the state of Georgia, not the FDA.

However, Georgia is a state with such a long history in peanut production, its food safety inspections should be a model for others to follow. As you will see, it is not.

There were earlier reports of gross deficiencies—-leaking roofs and mold that follows; dead mice caught in  traps; rodent droppings and birds’ nests—–in one Georgia plant belonging to the Peanut Corporation of America. Later, a Texas plant owned by the same company had similar problems.

Both plants have been found to be the source of a salmonella outbreak that has hit 45 states, at last count sickened at least 677 people and has been associated with nine deaths. It has cost many millions of dollars in recalled products, one of the largest recalls in U.S. history. The outbreak is not over, says the FDA, in part because officials say foods containing these peanut products tend to have a long shelf life. The number of reported cases is slowing, however.

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution has conducted an investigation of how peanut plants are inspected in its state and what happens when a plant has a problem.

Atlanta Journal-Constitution

…”But the lax oversight of Peanut Corp.’s factory typifies how the state regulates all 27 peanut processors in Georgia, an investigation by The Atlanta Journal-Constitution shows.

“The agriculture agency defends the work of its 60 “sanitarians,” the inspectors who oversee 16,000 Georgia food processors, warehouses, groceries and bakeries. Few, however, have backgrounds in food safety, or in any other science. Of the 11 inspectors assigned to peanut factories, just one holds a bachelor’s degree in chemistry, two in biology. Others majored in such subjects as child development, history and anthropology. (Emphasis added)

Inspectors Often Spent One or Two Hours Checking Peanut Plants for Compliance with 54 General Rules for Safe Food Processing

“The inspectors often spend no more than one to two hours examining the sprawling peanut plants, checking for compliance with 54 general rules for safe food processing.

When Deficiencies Have Been Found, There Is Frequent Failure to See if Problems Corrected

“When they find violations, inspectors frequently fail to document whether plants correct the deficiencies. Since 2006, the AJC’s review found, inspectors have cited peanut plants for 152 violations of food safety standards. But they failed to record how — or whether — 99 of those infractions were resolved, leaving both the public and other regulators in the dark. (Emphasis added)

“The absence of such notations, Agriculture Department officials said, should imply corrections occurred.

Georgia Department of Agriculture Records Show It Imposed No Fines or Penalties on Peanut Plants for Three Years, According to Records Review…”Lack of Urgency”

“In any event, the department has imposed no fines or other penalties against the peanut plants in the three years for which the agency maintains records. Even persistent failures to keep equipment sanitary or to protect food processing areas from rodents and other pests kindled little sense of urgency in the hundreds of pages of inspection reports reviewed by the AJC.”

Source: Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Advance publication online, March 8, 2009