theSun | FRIDAY JANUARY 30 2009
news without borders
US peanut company expands salmonella recall
CHICAGO: A company at the
centre of a salmonella outbreak
that has sickened more than 500
people was broadening its recall
of peanut products, US health
officials said on Wednesday.
The US Food and Drug Ad-
ministration said Peanut Corp of
America would expand its recall
to all peanut products produced
at its Blakely, Georgia plant
since Jan 1, 2007, after agency
inspectors found more strains of
salmonella at the plant.
“These additional products
are being recalled because there
is concern of potential salmo-
nella contamination, including
contamination with salmonella
strains not associated with the
current outbreak,” Stephen
Sundlof, director of the FDA’s
Centre for Food Safety and Ap-
plied Nutrition, told reporters in
a telephone briefing.
A company representative
was not immediately available
for comment.
Sundlof stressed that to date,
the only illnesses linked to
salmonella in peanut products
were caused by the Salmonella
Typhimurium strain.
“CDC (Centres for Disease
Control) and FDA will continue
to monitor incidents of salmo-
nella illness throughout the
country,” he said.
briefs
Lynyrd Skynyrd
pianist dead at 56
LOS ANGELES: Lynyrd Skynyrd
pianist Billy Powell (pix), one of
the longest-serving members of
the 1970s super group, has died
aged 56, the band announced on
its website on Wednesday.
Powell, a survivor of the 1977
plane crash in Mississippi that
claimed the lives of six people
including lead singer Ronnie Van
Zant, died on Tuesday, the state-
ment said without giving further
details.
According to celebrity news
website TMZ.com, Powell died in
the southeastern state of Florida.
The Texas-born Powell worked
as a roadie for Skynyrd during the
group’s early years before his
keyboard skills were noticed by
Van Zant during preparations for
a concert.
He appeared on the band’s
debut album and was part of the
group’s meteoric success through
the next four years, a period which
saw them produce classic rock
anthems including Sweet Home
Alabama and Free Bird. – AFP
CIA chief accused of
rape in Algeria
WASHINGTON: The United
States is looking into allega-
tions the CIA station chief
in Algeria raped at least two
Muslim women after lacing
their drinks with a drug, a State
9
Sundlof said the expanded room was used interchangeably for occurred on Jan 9. “The outbreak is certainly a potential that companies will
recall now includes all peanuts cleaning hands, utensils and washing still ongoing although the number of re- have to go back further in time to recall
– dry and roasted, granulated out mops. ported cases has decreased modestly.” products,” Sundlof said.
peanuts, peanut butter and pea- Dr Robert Tauxe of the US Centres So far, 501 people from 43 states and He said the FDA was working with the
nut paste made at the Blakely for Disease Control and Prevention one person in Canada have been sick- company and industry groups to identify
facility. confirmed that none of the cases in the ened in the outbreak, 108 people have what products might be involved. It has
Michael Rogers, head of current outbreak involve any strain been hospitalised and there have been directed consumers to check its website
FDA’s field investigations, said other than Salmonella Typhimurium, eight reported deaths. at http://www.fda.gov for updates. The
the company’s internal records and said CDC “is not seeing an increase FDA officials said it is not yet clear recall has already affected close to 200
revealed situations in 2007 and in cases caused by these other strains.” how many more products will be in- products in the United States, Canada
2008 where the firm’s own test- Tauxe said the most recent illness cluded in the expanded recall. “There is and Britain. – Reuters
ing programme had identified
salmonella contamination in
a product. But, after getting a
subsequent negative test, the
company resumed shipping
products, Rogers said.
“The additional salmonella
strains discovered at this plant
underscore that this plant was
shipping adulterated product,
but as for now we are not aware
of any illnesses connected to
any other salmonella strains
shown at this facility,” Rogers
told reporters on the call.
The FDA’s plant inspection
report revealed a number of
deficiencies, including evidence
of cracks in the floor, live
cockroaches, mould and water
dripping from the ceiling in an
area where finished products
were stored.
Inspectors said the plant
lacked adequate facilities for
hand washing, and that a sink
located in the peanut butter
Department spokesman said
on Wednesday. A report by
ABC News said the CIA officer,
a convert to Islam, was sent
back to the United States after
the women came forward with
the charges in September.
State Department spokes-
man Robert Wood referred ad-
ditional questions to the Justice
Department, which declined
comment. The department is
heading the investigation, ABC
reported. – Reuters
Teen killed for
wearing rival T-shirt
WELLINGTON: A New Zealand
teenager was run over and killed
by a gang member because his
yellow T-shirt was the colour of a
rival gang, a newspaper reported
yesterday. Jordan Herewini, 16,
was run over twice in Murupara,
a logging town in North Island,
by his brother’s truck which had
been stolen by a visiting member
of the Mongrel Mob, the New
Zealand Herald reported.
The paper quoted residents as
saying that Herewini had earlier
been in a scuffle with the visitors
over his yellow T-shirt, a colour
associated with the local rival
Tribesmen gang. – dpa
Two Germans jailed
for racist attacks
BERLIN: Two school pupils,
aged 17 and 19, were sent to
prison on Wednesday in Ger-
many for anti-Muslim attacks
on homes.
Judge Kai Dieckmann jailed
the younger for 46 months and
the older for 56 months after
convicting them of attempted
murder. No one was hurt in the
attacks.
In one of the racist attacks
last spring, a Turkish house-
holder found a tent in his
suburban Berlin garden on fire
and put out the flames. In the
other attack, a lighted object
was thrown at a Bosnian fami-
ly’s house. – dpa