Peanut Corp. of America did sell to retailers

Contrary to its previous statements, Peanut Corp. of America now says it sold products directly to retail outlets such as dollar stores.

As a result of the prior failure to acknowledge those sales, the retail items have not been named in the federal list of almost 1,800 products recalled in the national salmonella outbreak.

• For all the latest developments on the peanut crisis and the salmonella outbreak, with an updated list of recalled items, plus background on the scare, go to the AJC's special report: ajc.com/peanuts.

The retailers included Dollar Tree Stores, Dollar General, 99 Cent Stuff and 99 Cent Only stores, the company said in a press release. Brand names include Casey’s Dry Roasted Peanuts, Casey’s Honey Roasted Peanuts, Parnell’s Pride Dry Roasted Salted Peanuts and Reggie’s Ballpark Style Peanuts Original Salted, among others.

PCA, whose Blakely plant has been identified as the sole source of the salmonella outbreak, had previously said it only sold to institutions such as hospitals and other food-processing firms that use its products as ingredients in cookies, ice cream and other products sold in stores.

In a Jan. 28 press release, the company had said “PCA does not sell peanuts or peanut products directly to consumers in stores.” A Sunday press release reversed that statement.

The company’s reversal is the second major revision of information about its operations. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration on Friday revealed that the company had sent peanut butter to the market knowing it had tested positive for salmonella. The FDA had originally said that on 12 occasions, PCA received positive tests for salmonella in its peanut butter, but had obtained retests deeming it safe before shipping it. After reviewing documents, the FDA said last week that was not the case.

The company did not in all cases wait for negative results, and in some cases, apparently didn’t retest at all, according to the FDA.

The massive recall of products has caused worry and confusion among consumers and store owners. More than 550 people have been sickened in 43 states, and the salmonella outbreak has been linked to eight deaths.

The U.S. Justice Department has started a criminal investigation into the plant in Blakely. The Atlanta office of the FBI issued a statement Monday saying it was assisting in the probe.

PCA, headquartered in Lynchburg, Va., in an earlier statement expressed empathy with those sickened and said it is cooperating with investigators.

“Our top priority has been — and will continue to be — to ensure the public safety and to work promptly to remove all potentially contaminated products out of the marketplace,” the company’s statement said.

On Monday, the state Senate Agriculture Committee considered a bill that would require food-processing plants to alert state inspectors within a day when test results showed a contaminant such as salmonella. The bill, sponsored by Sen. John Bulloch (R-Ochlocknee), would also require the food producers to test their products for contamination.

“Any time the health of citizens in Georgia, the U.S. and the world is endangered, we need to make sure that does not happen again,” Bulloch told the committee.

PCA president Stewart Parnell has been called to testify Wednesday on the salmonella outbreak before the U.S. House Energy and Commerce Committee.

See the complete list of recalled items.