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Peanut Corporation of America (PCA) was a peanut-processing business founded in 1977 and headquartered in Lynchburg, Virginia. The company was forced out of business after being found to be the source of a massive salmonella outbreak in the United States during 2008 and 2009. PCA operated processing facilities in Blakely, Georgia; Suffolk, Virginia; and Plainview, Texas. The company primarily serviced the "institutional food" market, providing peanuts, peanut butter, peanut meal, and peanut paste to schools, prisons and nursing homes, as well as food processors who used them in products such as cookies, snacks, ice cream and dog treats, and also low-budget retail outlets such as dollar stores. Peanut Corporation of America had 90 employees and did $25 million in sales in 2008. The company manufactured roughly 2.5 percent of the nation’s processed peanuts, focusing on the low end of the consumer market. The company began a long history of food quality issues in 1990 when it was sued by American Candy Company after the FDA discovered that PCA's peanut butter exceeded the FDA tolerance level for aflatoxin, a mold toxin. American Candy had turned the peanut butter into 8,000 cases of "kisses" for Wal-Mart, which were not shipped. Another lawsuit was brought by Zachary Confections Inc. of Frankfort, Indiana, in 1991 after a 40,020-pound shipment of nuts from PCA was found to have an unacceptably high level of aflatoxin.〔 There had been concerns about sanitation at the company since at least the mid-1980s. On February 13, 2009, Peanut Corporation of America filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy liquidation. At least a dozen civil lawsuits were filed while the federal criminal investigation continued.〔 == Extent == In late 2008 and early 2009, nine people died and at least 714 people in 46 states, half of them children, fell ill due to food poisoning from eating products containing contaminated peanuts, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Among persons with available information, 23% reported being hospitalized.〔(Investigation Update: Outbreak of Salmonella Typhimurium Infections, 2008–2009 ), Centers for Disease Control and Prevention〕 The real numbers were believed to be much higher, since for every reported case of salmonella, another 38 cases go unreported, according to the CDC.〔(First Florida salmonella poisoning linked to peanut plant reported ), The News-Press, February 5, 2009〕 A combination of epidemiological analysis and laboratory testing by state officials in Minnesota and Connecticut, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), and the CDC enabled the FDA to confirm that the sources of the outbreak of illnesses caused by ''Salmonella typhimurium'' were peanut butter, peanut paste, and peanut meal produced by the Peanut Corporation of America (PCA) at its Blakely, Georgia processing plant.〔(Peanut Product Recalls: ''Salmonella Typhimurium'' (Current Update) ), Food and Drug Administration〕 This infection triggered the most extensive food recall ever in US history. As of April 22, 2009, it involved at least 361 companies and 3,913 different products manufactured using PCA ingredients.〔(Peanut Butter and other Peanut Containing Products Recall List (Current Update) ), Food and Drug Administration〕 The recall included everything produced at the Blakely plant since January 1, 2007.〔(Peanut Corp. recalls all products back to 2007 ), MSNBC, January 28, 2009〕〔(Peanut product recalls spread fast ), ''USA Today'', February 1, 2009〕〔(Peanut Product Recall Widened After Site Visit to Georgia Plant ), MedPage Today, January 28, 2009〕〔(Mold and Roaches Found in Peanut Butter Plant Linked to Salmonella ), Wall Street Journal, January 29, 2009〕 as well as everything ever produced at the Plainview, Texas plant.〔〔(Texas health department takes over peanut recall ), CNN, February 20, 2009〕 Products supplied for some school lunches were pulled,〔 and the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) even recalled emergency meals sent after a massive ice storm.〔(Schools, disaster victims may have gotten tainted peanut butter ), Los Angeles Times, February 5, 2009〕〔 (Since the storm left many without power, the United States Postal Service went door-to-door in Kentucky to warn residents and hand out 600,000 flyers from FEMA.〔(Postal Workers Warn Kentuckians Of Peanut Recall ), WTVW, IN, February 9, 2009〕) Food banks nationwide had to discard thousands of pounds of food in time of high demand from millions of US families in need.〔(Food banks toss out food linked to peanut recall ), Associated Press, February 15, 2009〕 The recall did not involve major-brand peanut butters, since PCA primarily serviced only low-budget and institutional providers, but many consumers reacted by avoiding peanut products altogether, driving down the sales of all brands of peanut butter by nearly 25 percent.〔(Sales Drop 25% as Parents Shun Peanut Butter ), New York Times, February 6, 2009〕〔(Survey: peanut recall known but misunderstood ), Associated Press, February 13, 2009〕 This caused great harm to the industry and farmers, already suffering from low prices due to the 2008 bumper crop and the deepening economic crisis.〔(Georgia’s peanut farmers in their ‘darkest year’ ), Atlanta Journal-Constitution, February 6, 2009〕〔〔(State’s farmers take early blow ), Atlanta Journal-Constitution, February 8, 2009〕〔(Nation's peanut growers reeling from outbreak ), Associated Press, February 16, 2009〕 Early estimated losses to the US peanut industry because of this outbreak would be on the order of $1 billion.〔(Recall costs peanut industry $1 billion ), Reuters, March 11, 2009〕 On February 7, 2009, Oregon officials confirmed the first case of salmonellosis in a dog which had eaten biscuits contaminated with the PCA outbreak strain of salmonella.〔(First animal injured in salmonella outbreak ), ''USA Today'', February 7, 2009〕 ''The Washington Post'' reported on February 15 that it had been an open secret among peanut insiders in Georgia, Virginia, and Texas that PCA had serious sanitation issues. David Brooks, a buyer for a snack company, said that it was well known PCA was "a time bomb waiting to go off."〔 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Peanut Corporation of America」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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