Salmonella Suspected at Second Peanut Plant

Rate This

A peanut processing plant in Texas owned by the company blamed for the salmonella outbreak was closed Tuesday after state health officials reported that products there might be tainted with salmonella, according to a CNN report.

The plant, in Plainview, is owned by the Peanut Corporation of America, which has been the focus of a nationwide recall of more than 1,000 peanut products. Its plant in Blakely, Ga., also is closed after its products were linked to eight deaths and the sickening of 600 people nationwide, the news network reported.

According to CNN, Texas officials said, "It is not yet known if the salmonella possibly found in the product testing is the same strain of the bacterium implicated in a 43-state outbreak of salmonellosis." Peanut products such as peanut meal and granulated peanuts had not left the facility, authorities said, and dry roasted peanuts that were shipped to a distributor were stopped from being sent further.

The plant was closed after product samples tested by a private lab came back Monday night, indicating the possible presence of salmonella, CNN reported. Results from testing by a state lab were expected to be returned Tuesday.