Kellogg says it's reviewing how it qualifies suppliers after a food-safety auditor gave superior ratings to the Georgia peanut plant now at the center of one of the nation's largest food recalls.
The auditor, paid for by Peanut Corp. of America, checked PCA's Blakely, Ga., plant in 2007 and 2008 and gave it superior ratings both times, says Kris Charles, Kellogg spokeswoman.
"That's frightening," says Michael Doyle, director of the Center for Food Safety at the University of Georgia.
Like dozens of food companies caught in the recall, Kellogg obtained ingredients from the Peanut Corp. plant linked to a salmonella outbreak that has sickened 550 people and may have contributed to eight deaths.
The audit, which Kellogg requires for ingredient suppliers, checked PCA's compliance with good manufacturing, sanitation and other practices, Kellogg says. The audit was paid for by PCA.
Source: USA Today