Peanut Industry in trouble

Peanut Corporation of America has shuttered a second peanut-processing plant. This one, in Plainview, Texas, was closed by state authorities who discovered salmonella in products there. PCA owns three peanut-processing plants, in Georgia, Texas and Virginia. The federal investigation into the salmonella outbreak, which has killed eight people and sickened 600 others in 44 states, has centered on the company's Blakely, Georgia, plant, which was shut down last month. This time the bacteria were discovered before the affected granulated peanuts and meal left the Texas plant, but roasted nuts had already been shipped out of state. Company officials notified the distributor Monday night and recalled the roasted peanuts. Texas officials believe none of the contaminated products reached consumers. Inspectors found dead rodents and feces inside the plant and officials at the Texas Department of Health shut the plant down. During a House committee hearing Wednesday Energy and Commerce Chairman Henry Waxman disclosed internal e-mails showing that Peanut Company of America Executives were notified last fall that its products tested positive for salmonella. When asked about the notification company’s executives said - on the advice of counsel, they invoked their Fifth Amendment rights and refused to testify.