What a contrast to the owner of the peanut processor in the recent peanut butter contamination case.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/30007954/
updated 7:02 a.m. ET, Thurs., April. 2, 2009
TERRA BELLA, Calif. - A nationwide recall of 2 million pounds of pistachios in the wake of a salmonella scare has increased calls for more stringent food testing laws.
The contamination was only detected because of voluntary testing by a manufacturer for Kraft Foods Inc. almost two weeks ago. Private auditors hired by Kraft later found problems they think caused the contamination at a supplier's processing facility in central California.
If Kraft had not chosen to prioritize testing, 2 million pounds of pistachios that touched off government warnings and a scare this week probably would still be on the market. Neither the Food and Drug Administration nor state laws require food manufacturers to test the safety of their products.
"We're relying on companies to find the contaminated foods on their own, and since there's no national standards for this, some companies don't bother to test at all," said Rep. Diana DeGette, D-Colo., a critic of the nation's food safety system. "What if these nuts had been distributed by a company that doesn't test? We wouldn't have found out until people got sick."
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