Supermarkets pulled pistachios and some pistachio-laden foods from their shelves Tuesday, moves resulting from this week's Food and Drug Administration warning to consumers not to eat the nuts because they could be tainted with salmonella.
The FDA is scrambling to prevent a repeat of a recent salmonella outbreak from peanuts that has sickened more than 690 people in 46 states. And in Sacramento on Tuesday, a lawmaker introduced legislation to tighten safety standards for foods processed in California.
Earlier this week, Setton Pistachio of Terra Bella Inc., a San Joaquin Valley nut packer, recalled 2 million pounds of pistachios because of potential salmonella contamination. The company's nuts tested positive during routine checks at a plant operated by Kraft Foods Inc. and other food manufacturers, according to the FDA.
Like Peanut Corp. of America, the company blamed for the widespread outbreak from peanuts, Setton is a bulk provider of nuts to food manufacturers and wholesalers. That means that the contaminated pistachios could have ended up in a variety of processed foods, including ice cream, cookies, candies and trail mix.
Although the pistachios that Setton is recalling represent less than 1% of the Golden State's 278-million-pound crop, the FDA defended its blanket warning -- even though it will almost certainly be a blow to the state's $539-million pistachio industry.
"It is always an upset to the industry when we have to put consumer advice out like this, but . . . we don't know where those pistachios have gone, and we don't want to wait until we find out and then learn that people were getting sick," said David Acheson, the FDA's assistant commissioner for food safety. "We know the pistachio industry will suffer losses as a consequence."
Acheson said some consumers have reported being sickened by pistachios. But the FDA so far has been unable to confirm any cases of illness linked to salmonella-tainted pistachios.
However, routine checks performed by food processors yielded 10 positive salmonella tests, all of them linked to pistachios supplied by Setton, according to the FDA. The tests have identified at least three strains of salmonella, but not the variety that caused the peanut-linked salmonella outbreak in recent months.
Industry officials and Kraft said the contamination was probably a result of not segregating raw and roasted nuts during processing.
