Class Assignment 02/12
Georgia Lawmakers are frantically trying to clean up the huge mess created by the recent salmonella outbreak. The plan would require food makers to alert state inspectors within 24-hours if a plant’s internal tests detect contaminated products.
Peanut Corp. is under under fire for knowingly shipping salmonella-laced products even after some products tested positive.
The plant was not required by state law to divulge those test results. And officials say the outbreak could have been avoided if they’d known sooner.
“A red flag would have been raised,” said Republican state Sen. John Bulloch, who is sponsoring the new measure. “”I think we could have identified this plant had a problem.”
If the legislation passes, Georgia could be setting a precedent. Food safety experts, government groups and industry lobbies say they don’t know of any other state that requires food manufacturers to share data from internal testing.
Roughly 600 people have gotten sick from the recent outbreak. It may also be linked to up to nine deaths and caused one of the largest product recalls in U.S. history.
The pile of lawsuits is stacking up for The Peanut Corp., and a federal investigation has already been launched.
The bill is now being sent to the full Senate. It will allow agriculture officials to order plants to have their products tested at their own expense. It would exempt meat, poultry and other manu
