Leaky Roof at ConAgra Plant Blamed in Outbreak

Apr 06, 05:34 AM

Current Headlines: By Joe Ruff, Omaha World-Herald, Neb.

Apr. 6--Moisture from a leaky roof and a faulty sprinkler at ConAgra Foods' peanut butter manufacturing plant in Georgia led to a salmonella outbreak that sickened more than 400 people nationwide, the company said Thursday.

The company is replacing the roof, installing new equipment and making other changes to help ensure it never happens again, spokeswoman Stephanie Childs said.

Meanwhile, Peter Pan peanut butter will be back on store shelves by mid-July, she said.

Another manufacturer will produce the peanut butter until ConAgra's plant in Sylvester, Ga., reopens in early August, Childs said. She declined to name the other manufacturer.

Peter Pan is one of the nation's top three peanut butter brands, behind the J.M. Smucker Co.'s Jif and Unilever's Skippy.

Childs said Omaha-based ConAgra is determined to win back business for Peter Pan, as well as for the company's private-label peanut butter, which together produced about $150 million in annual revenue.

ConAgra also recalled Great Value peanut butter it made at the plant for Wal-Mart. Several companies make peanut butter for the Great Value brand, and they were not affected by the recall.

Wal-Mart spokesman Kory Lundberg said the chain still carries Great Value produced by other suppliers.

Lundberg said he didn't know when Peter Pan might be back on the shelves at Wal-Mart.

ConAgra recalled all of its peanut butter in February after federal officials informed the company of nearly 300 cases of salmonella in 39 states. Reported illnesses grew to 425 in 44 states from August to mid-February, including two in Nebraska and eight in Iowa.

Last August, the roof of the Georgia plant leaked once and the sprinkler system went off twice because of a faulty sprinkler, allowing moisture into the plant, Childs said.

Despite extensive cleanup, Childs said, the moisture apparently came into contact with dormant salmonella from raw peanuts or peanut dust, and the bacteria became entrenched in some areas of the plant.

Food and Drug Administration officials have said salmonella was found on a roaster and some cleaning equipment.

Changes at the plant will include more separation between raw product and processed product to lessen the chances of contamination, Childs said.

ConAgra also said it has created the position of vice president of global food safety and hired Paul A. Hall to fill the spot. Hall had been with Matrix MicroScience Inc., which makes technology for detecting and capturing food-borne pathogens.

A food safety advisory committee also has been set up, ConAgra said. It will include Michael Doyle, director of the Center for Food Safety at the University of Georgia, and other third-party experts in food safety.

ConAgra is one of the nation's largest food companies, with more than $11 billion a year in sales. Among its well-known brands are Healthy Choice frozen dinners and Chef Boyardee canned pasta.

The recall will cost up to $60 million, including legal expenses from several lawsuits filed by people who claimed they became ill after eating the peanut butter, ConAgra has said.

Renovation to the Georgia plant will add to those costs, but estimates were not immediately available, Childs said.

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