Every year almost 2 million Americans get food
poisoning caused by salmonella.
The vast majority of cases are isolated and routine.
I think people don't really understand the
anatomy of an outbreak.
The first few cases that come in are not even
associated with an outbreak it is not until
you get a sufficient number of cases that it
actually becomes apparent that there is really an
outbreak going on.
The first signs of the peanut butter salmonella
outbreak began to show up in late summer 2008.
Typically, doctors report cases of salmonella
poisoning to local health departments,
which in turn report them to The Centers for Disease
Control.
By last fall, the CDC noticed a disturbing trend
- enough of the cases were caused by the same
salmonella strain - Typhimurium.
By the end of November we knew that there was at
least 30 cases reported from almost as many states
they were spread all across the country.
But where was the bacteria coming from?
Initially investigators thought the source might
be contaminated chicken.
The sick people were interviewed about all of
the things they might have eaten,
sometimes interviewed in very great detail,
just what they might have eaten and where.
But memories of people who become ill can be faulty
and the process delayed.
Two weeks can pass between the time a person is
diagnosed with salmonella poisoning and the result
of a stool sample is passed on to federal
officials.
We did a case control study talking to ill
people and well people in many states,
in order to find out what was different what had the
people who were sick eaten that the well people had
not eaten, and the answer that came back from that
study was the same as the suspicion in Minnesota -
it was peanut butter.
Actually we didn't wait until CDC actually came up
with the final - it is peanut butter.
The FDA acted on findings from a cluster of cases in
a Minnesota nursing home where residents were
infected with the same salmonella strain and all
had eaten peanut butter.
The brand was King Nut.
On January 9th the suspect King Nut peanut butter
tested positive for salmonella typhimurium.
At that point the FDA became involved actually
going to the plant where the peanut butter was made
and in addition to some of the distribution points
along the way and at that point we initiated a
recall.
On January 10th the company recalled it.
But the investigation did not stop there.
We needed to get to the source of where the Peanut
butter was actually manufactured, so we did.
We found out it was manufactured at a plant in
Blakely GA., Peanut Corporation of America.
That same day FDA inspectors descended on
the plant.
They found a number of issues that warranted
further study.
The firm had, as part of its own testing program
identified salmonella - they had not taken
appropriate steps to clean and maintain the
equipment.
Meanwhile investigators in Connecticut found a closed
container of Peanut butter from PCA that was
contaminated with Salmonella Typhimurim.
Our investigation identified the actual
manufacturer of that particular product.
And we initiated an inspection of that
manufacturer, as well as firms that could be
related as far as suppliers,
to identify what the scope of the problem was as well
as how this particular manufacturer could have
contributed to this outbreak.
Most of what PCA makes, peanut paste,
is used to make other products such as cookies
and crackers and ice cream.
The FDA inspection identified the supply
chain and within hours those customers recalled
their products and had them removed from grocery
store shelves.
PCA had more than 300 direct customers.
Those customers had hundreds of customers
making dozens of products.
That's an awful lot of products,
an awful lot of notification,
an awful lot of recall.
It is an awful lot of recall that's correct.
This is going to be, by the time it's done one of
our largest recalls in history.
We put together an interactive recall list on
our website so that as new products were subject to
the recall, people could, consumers could find out
is any of the products in their homes were on the
recall list and they could dispose of them.
In addition, the FDA told consumers what less risky
to consume.
PCA did not make products used by the big peanut
butter makers.
So we were able to state affirmatively that name
brand national peanut butter that you find in
jars on the supermarket shelf are not part of this
recall and that they are safe to eat.
Close collaboration between CDC and FDA has
been critical in this outbreak.
I think its important because the FDA,
our state partners our federal partners all have
limited resources, and to the degree that we can
network, work together and leverage our resources and
share information it enhances that system.
I think the public should feel very confident that
FDA is on the job and will continue to be.