COMMACK, N.Y. — The probe into a nationwide salmonella scare over pistachio nuts shifted Thursday from a California nut processor to its sister company in New York, where inspectors last month found cockroaches and rodent droppings.
The Food and Drug Administration said Commack-based Setton International Foods Inc. shares key staff and packages food with Setton Pistachio of Terra Bella Inc., the nation’s second-largest pistachio processor. The central California plant earlier this week recalled 2 million pounds of nuts over fears of possible salmonella contamination.
A spokesman for both companies said the California plant supplies all pistachios used in the 50,000-square-foot Long Island processing facility, which makes chocolate- and yogurt- coated nuts and dried fruit.
Last month, New York agricultural authorities discovered nearly two dozen dead cockroaches, rodent droppings and one live cockroach on an ingredient-rolling rack inside the Commack plant. It failed its state health inspection.
Lee Cohen, the production manager for Setton International Foods, said Thursday the plant has stopped shipping pistachios and addressed the health and safety concerns. He said the problems weren’t related to the recall and that the plant is now spotless.
So far, there have been no confirmed reports of illness linked to the recalled nuts.
Still, federal health officials warned people this week to avoid eating all pistachios and products containing them while they determine what foods could be tainted.
Kraft Foods Inc. first alerted the FDA to the contamination after its manufacturer in Sko kie, Ill., turned up salmonella in a routine test of roasted pistachios that workers planned to add to trail mix.
Private auditors hired by Kraft found problems they think caused the contamination when they traveled to Setton Pistachio’s processing facility in Terra Bella.
The last time California health inspectors visited the Terra Bella plant, they found no violations that would pose a health threat.
If Kraft had not tested its product, the pistachios probably would still be on the market. Neither the FDA nor state laws require food manufacturers to test the safety of their products.
“We’re relying on companies to find the contaminated foods on their own, and since there’s no national standards for this, some companies don’t bother to test at all,” said Rep. Diana DeGette, D-Colo., a critic of the nation’s food-safety system. “What if these nuts had been distributed by a company that doesn’t test? We wouldn’t have found out until people got sick.”
DeGette and numerous other lawmakers want the FDA to monitor testing in all segments of the processed-food industry.
