Sunland CEO Jimmie Shearer denies the FDA’s claim that the company has knowingly distributed peanut butter that was tainted with Salmonella since 2009. Shearer began a letter posted on the company’s website today saying , “At no time in its twenty four year history has Sunland, Inc. released for distribution any products that it knew to be potentially contaminated with harmful microorganisms. ”
This week, the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) released a number of documents about Sunland including the results of its month-long inspection of Sunalnd’s plant in Portales, NM. That inspection began in early September, after a Salmonella outbreak was linked to peanut butter produced at the plant.
The first of 10 observations that inspectors made at the plant was : “Since 2009, your firm has distributed lots of peanut butter and nut butters that were positive for Salmonella. The following is a list of products since 2009 that have been manufactured by your firm, have tested positive for Salmonella by your firm’s internal testing program, and were at least partially distributed by your firm.” The report then lists nine products made between 2009 and 2011 that tested positive for one of six different Salmonella strains.
Shearer said he will not publicly discuss the company’s response to the FDA’s inspection until it is complete, but he wanted to make it clear that the company has never distributed product it knew to be tainted. “The Company has followed internal testing protocols that it believed resulted in the isolation and destruction of any product that did not pass the test designed to detect the presence of any contaminants. In every instance where test results indicated the presence of a contaminant, the implicated product was destroyed and not released for distribution. The Company believed at all times that its response was sufficiently robust such that any product which might be contaminated was isolated and destroyed. “
