Dive Summary:
- Sunland Inc., the company that had been linked to over 40 cases of Salmonella, faces a new problem in their drawn out battle with the FDA: millions of peanuts and nothing to do with them.
- The FDA recently rescinded Sunland's food processor registration, a new power under the FSMA, which effectively halts all production.
- Sunland, however, has requested a conditional reprieve from the FDA, claiming they have warehouses full of peanuts that need to be processed or else risk massive economic repercussions.
From the article:
Sunland could, under the Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA), request an informal hearing, but it has apparently decided only to ask if it can resume shelling peanuts. Sunland views peanut shelling and peanut processing as separate operations, but it is unclear as to whether FDA shares that view.
Sunland, which has millions of pounds of harvested Valencia peanuts in storage, has laid off 28 of 98 employees until it can resume shelling operations. The Valencia peanut-growing area spans the New Mexico-Texas border.
