Nestle Inspected Peanut Corp. Itself And Said No - But 3rd-Party Inspectors Gave Firm Thumbs-Up

[hatrack]

Nestlé USA, considering whether to buy ingredients from Peanut Corporation of America, twice sent its own inspectors to check out the company. Both times, they rejected the company after finding sanitary problems at its facilities in Georgia and Texas, noting rat droppings, live beetles, dead insects and the potential for microbial contamination. It proved to be a good call.

Today, Peanut Corporation of America stands accused by federal investigators of knowingly selling peanut products contaminated with salmonella bacteria, which triggered a criminal investigation, the largest food recall in American history and an outbreak of illness that has sickened at least 691 people and killed nine since September.

Kellogg and other companies that bought products from Peanut Corporation of America told lawmakers yesterday that unlike Nestlé, they did not perform their own inspections. Instead, they relied on third-party audits common in the U.S. food industry.

David Mackay, Kellogg's chief executive, said his company trusted audits performed by the American Institute of Baking International, the biggest food-inspection firm in the country. The institute conducted scheduled inspections of PCA's facilities and never flagged serious problems. It issued a "certificate of achievement" and a "superior" rating last August, when PCA was getting results from internal laboratory tests that revealed a salmonella problem in its plant in Blakely, Ga., congressional investigators said. "They gave PCA glowing reviews," said Rep. Henry A. Waxman (D-Calif.), chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Committee. "The company was selected by PCA, paid by PCA, and realized that if they didn't give PCA a glowing review, they were not going to get hired again.

EDIT

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/03/19/AR2009031903204.html

[valerief]

1. I'm soooo glad I don't eat Reese's Peanut Butter Cups or even peanut butter,

for that matter.