Peanut Butter Recall: What’s Next
Boston – The recent outbreak of salmonella tainted peanut butter has caused shock and concern among many consumers who thought that the food safety standards in this country would prevent such an incident from happening.
There is now clear evidence showing that the Peanut Corporation of America knowingly shipped many of these tainted jars according to the Food and Drug Administration. This has caused a salmonella outbreak in 44 states and made 637 people ill.
The outbreak, led to the largest food recall in U.S. history affecting 2,500 different products including pet food. While the fall out from this incident is still being felt numerous people are wondering how long and how many different products will be affected?
Recent developments show that we are still in the early stages of how severe and deep this recall will become. Current evidence suggests that are still many more products that have to be taken off the shelves to protect the public.
A good example of this occurred when C&K Market Inc., a Southern Oregon grocery store chain, announced that they would be pulling five brands of raw peanuts and two brands trail mix that could have been tainted. While there have been huge amounts of criticism over how this was able to happen.
The potential fall out within the food safety industry could change dramatically. Meaning that there more than likely will be an increase in government regulations, inspections and penalties to prevent this kind of carelessness from happening in the future.
While the full effects from the salmonella peanut butter outbreak are still unknown, it would be no surprise to see the number of recalled products increase and the potential number of cases reported to rise before the situation improves.
What this event underscores is the need for better regulation of the food industry along with stiffer penalties for those who knowingly break the law sending out unsafe food for consumption.