Peanut Product Recall Took Company Approval

Despite a criminal investigation into whether Peanut Corporation of America deliberately sold contaminated products, the FDA still needed company approval before announcing the recall under current rules. "They can't even get a press release out on this stuff without industry approval. It's just unbelievable," said Rep. Rosa DeLauro, who vowed to introduce legislation creating a separate food safety entity with mandatory recall authority. The delays left families like Sarah Kirchner's in the dark for weeks after her 3-year-old son Michael was hospitalized for four days with intense pain. "He had a spinal tap, bone scan, M.R.I. and a CT scan," she said. "I'm still so worried about him." More than 500 people fell ill and 8 died, with over 430 product brands recalled. Public health officials pinpointed the Blakely plant as the source on January 9, but the company didn't recall all 2007-2008 products until January 28, despite knowing since 2007 that tests showed salmonella contamination. President Obama promised a "complete review of F.D.A. operations," expressing concern about his daughter Sasha's peanut butter consumption: "I don't want to have to worry about whether she's going to get sick as a consequence to having her lunch." Bill Marler bluntly assessed the situation: the FDA "had neither the authority nor the courage it needed to keep the food supply safe." Former FDA official Michael R. Taylor agreed change was essential: "F.D.A. negotiates communications about recalls with companies, and that sometimes leads to delays. Changing that dynamic when people are getting seriously ill and dying is something that ought to happen."