Court Approves FDA Consent Decree over Tainted Peanut Butter Outbreak
A federal court in New Mexico has approved a consent decree of permanent injunction between the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and Sunland, Inc., which owns a facility where peanut butter products purportedly tainted with Salmonella were produced. United States v. Sunland, Inc., No. 12-1312 (D.N.M., filed December 21, 2012). The outbreak affected “at least 35 people from 19 states,” eight of whom “were hospitalized as a result of their infection.” While the company neither admits nor denies FDA’s allegations, it agreed to take a number of actions to correct food-handling practices “that likely resulted in cross-contamination between raw peanuts and peanuts that had been roasted or brined.”
The company must “develop and implement sanitation control programs;
provide FDA the opportunity to inspect the facilities to assure Sunland’s
compliance with the consent decree, the Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act, and
applicable regulations; and receive written authorization from FDA to resume
operations. Sunland must also implement testing, monitoring and remediation
protocols.” The company will be unable to sell processed foods until it
complies with the agreement. See U.S. Department of Justice Press Release,
December 21, 2012.
