Schools in 3 states got recalled peanut products

Federal officials say schools in at least three states were shipped possibly tainted peanut products linked to a nationwide salmonella outbreak as part of the National School Lunch Program, the Associated Press reported Friday.

Jack Currie with the U.S. Department of Agriculture says schools in California, Idaho and Minnesota received roasted peanuts and peanut butter, which are now part of a rapidly expanding recall list from the Virginia-based Peanut Corp. of America. The USDA believes most of the recalled food has been consumed at the schools.

The USDA said previously that school meal programs were not affected by the massive recall, but Peanut Corp. expanded its recall to all peanut products made at the plant since Jan. 1, 2007.

School officials across the country are checking cafeterias, vending machines and stores to be sure all recalled products are thrown away.

A criminal investigation of the Blakely peanut butter plant linked to the national salmonella outbreak was also announced Friday, federal health officials said.

Stephen Sundlof, head of food safety for the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, said the agency has begun working with the U.S. Department of Justice.

“In order to prosecute a case, we always work with the Justice Department,” he said. “We have to go through the Justice Department.”

In addition, federal officials said that a shipment of peanuts from the Georgia plant contained metal fragments.

The shipment was returned from Canada in April of last year.

The FDA said Friday that the shipment of chopped peanuts was eventually destroyed, after back-and-forth efforts between the FDA and Peanut Corp. broke down and the FDA rejected as “unacceptable” findings by a private lab hired by Peanut Corp. to analyze its peanuts.

“The shipment was refused by FDA for filth,” FDA spokeswoman Stephanie Kwisnek wrote in an e-mail to the Associated Press. “The importer requested to destroy the product.” Another FDA spokesman, George Strait, said Friday that metal fragments were found in the shipment.

“The FDA did everything appropriately in handling the activities associated with this shipment,” Kwisnek said.

The FDA’s explanation Friday raises new questions about the adequacy of food-safety tests arranged by Peanut Corp. of its own products. The FDA said it refused to accept the private lab analysis because of problems with the size of the sample tested, lack of information about whether experienced and trained workers conducted the test, and questions about whether the test could have detected certain types of metals.

The Associated Press contributed to this article.