Food Safety Advice from Pest Managers
A food safety publication has written a summary of how cockroaches can contribute to foodborne illness, using the 2008-2009 Peanut Corporation of America (PCA) Salmonella outbreak as an example. The outbreak killed nine people and sickened more than 700 in 46 states, more than half of them children.
Quality Assurance and Food Safety magazine highlighted the outbreak while noting a University of Nebraska-Lincoln publication that said cockroaches have been knows to carry Salmonella, Staphylococcus, Streptococcus, coliforms and other pathogens. “This is because after feeding on contaminated food, disease bacteria can remain in the cockroach digestive system for a month or more. Later, human food or utensils can become contaminated with cockroach feces. It has been shown that Salmonella bacteria survive in cockroach feces for several years.”
The food safety magazine also noted a white paper published by the National Pest Management Association: “Pest Management in the Wake of the Peanut Corporation of America Salmonella Outbreak.'' The paper explained the conducive cockroach conditions at PCA at the time of the 2009 recall of contaminated peanuts that affected more than 3,900 products that used PCA as an ingredient supplier. “Cockroaches can spread 33 different kinds of bacteria,” said Missy Henriksen, National Pest Management Association Vice President of Public Affairs. “What we are seeing right now is that it really does underscore the importance of sanitation and proper pest management.”
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration investigation of PCA revealed extensive unsanitary and harmful conditions: “From mold growing on ceilings to rainwater leaking into the production areas; from gaps large enough for rodents to easily access the facility to the presence of dead cockroaches throughout the plant.'' The conditions were termed unsanitary and harmful and the industry white paper said poor or improper pest management practices could be viewed as a contributing factor in creating the crisis.
Food safety lawyers from PritzkerOlsen, P.A., which represented the families of three people who died in the outbreak, witnessed the plant conditions first hand as part of their investigation into the outbreak. The law firm continues to represent victims of food poisoning across the country and is one of the few U.S. legal groups practicing extensively in the area of fooborne illness litigation. Attorneys can be reached at 1-888-377-8900 (Toll Free) or by completing the contact form on the side of this Web page.
