The governor of Georgia has ordered his state's Bureau of Investigation to review whether the Peanut Corporation of America (PCA) processing plant in Blakely, Georgia, broke any laws.
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control said Thursday that peanut butter and peanut paste from that plant "are the source of the outbreak'' that has sickened 529 people in 43 states with Salmonella infections, including 116 who were hospitalized and eight who died.
Three of the deaths happened in Minnesota, where Fred Pritzker of the national food safety law firm, Pritzker Olsen, P.A., is representing the families of two of the victims. Pritzker already has filed the first peanut butter Salmonella wrongful death lawsuit against PCA.
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution newspaper reported that Georgia Governor Sonny Perdue wants a full blown criminal investigation into any potential criminal activities related to the Salmonella outbreak. The extent of Georgia's involvement will depend on whether the state or federal government is the appropriate jurisdiction to pursue charges. The probe is just beginning and no charges or allegations have been made.
Perdue's administration also has summoned state health investigators to Atlanta for intensified training on inspecting food plants. The state plans to shift more inspection manpower to cover food plants, the newspaper said.
Republican State Senator John Bulloch said he will introduce legislation, possibly as early as Friday, to sharpen laws regulating food processing plants in the state. In the U.S. Congress, Rep. Henry Waxman, D-California, has set Feb. 11 for hearings on the Salmonella outbreak.

Labels: food processing regulation, georgia food plant regulation, peanut butter salmonella outbreak, peanut corporation of america investigation