North Carolina’s Response to the Peanut Butter Incident It’s a pleasure to share we place in food safety. The Commissioner has challenged us to build the best program in the county and we are doing that. Joseph W. Reardon, Director Food & Drug Protection Division

Timeline 9/08/08 11/10/08 1/10/09 1/13/09 1/16/09 1/18/09 1/28/09 Earliest onset of illness, according to CDC 9/08/08 CDC monitors illnesses in 12 states 11/10/08 MN identifies Salmonella in King Nut peanut butter 1st recall by PCA initiated 1/10/09 FDA finds 12 instances of PCA shipping contaminated product 1/13/09 1/16/09 PCA expands peanut butter recall PCA expands recall to include all peanut paste 1/18/09 1/28/09 Recall expands to include all peanut products made in GA firm 2/12/09 PCA in TX initiates recall of peanut products PCA (TX and GA) informs customers to stop using all products 2/20/09 4/04/09 Last illness reported 5/12/09 Last recall initiated

Impact of PCA Peanut Butter Recall Public health US: 9 deaths and 714 illnesses NC: 1 death and 6 illnesses Consumer confidence eroded US: 2,833 food products recalled NC: 3 food and 2 animal feed manufacturers directly impacted

Impact of PCA Peanut Butter Recall Economic impact US: Estimated $1 BILLION impact US: 20% decline in peanut butter consumption in January NC: 23% decline in peanuts planted NC: Substantial number of employees laid-off

Laboratory Planning MFRPS ICS Technology Rapid Response

ICS Integration of Federal, state, and local resources Holistic management of an event Common objectives Situational awareness Maximize resources

Planning Food Emergency Response Plan ICS and unified command Technical Advisory Group Triggers Exercise, train, and revise NC Food Safety and Defense Task Force Foundation of public-private and interagency partnerships

Situational awareness Technology Real-time data Situational awareness Accurate decisions Rapid response Mitigate incident Web-based tools Recall effectiveness Task tracker After action reporting Finance tracker

Laboratory Investments in rapid testing capabilities coupled with ISO 17025 accreditation

Laboratory Surge capacity PFGE: NC Public Health Laboratory Partnering states Colorado, Florida, Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota, and Ohio PFGE: NC Public Health Laboratory

Manufactured Food Regulatory Program Standards Continuous improvement program Training and auditing Regulations Risk-based inspections and resources Emergency preparedness Outreach Laboratory resources Parallels goals of the Food Safety Enhancement Act

Incident Identification Recovery and Mitigation What is rapid response? We typically think linearly Containment Disposal and Decontaminate Recovery and Mitigation Prevention

Rapid response is when events are happening concurrently or in parallel Incident Identification Containment Rapid Response Disposal and Decontaminate Recovery and Mitigation Prevention

Incident Identification Traceback investigation FDA NCDA&CS Major snack manufacturer receiver of PCA peanut paste Four additional firms directly impacted

Containment Within the affected major snack foods manufacturer Halt production Obtain environmental baseline In-line and finished product testing Witness disposal

Containment Across the state Transparency Recall effectiveness checks Oversee activities at other affected firms Traceback/forward investigations Transparency Industry Public Regulatory partners

Decontamination Firm developed decontamination and restoration plan Approved and confirmed by regulatory agencies Physical verification of cleaning and sanitation Auditing of procedures and records Environmental and finished product sampling

Recovery Extensive Finished Product Testing Day 1 7 samples / machine / 24 hr   Line Machines Samples Sub-samples Packs of crackers 100 7 49 1568 4704 200 3 21 672 2016 400 8 56 1792 5376 126 4032 12,096 Samples collected on Day 2 and 3 of production

Finished Product Sampling Snack Manufacturer 162 samples 5,184 subsamples 15,552 packs of crackers

Recovery Commissioner Steve Troxler orders in-depth inspections at all peanut butter manufacturers Transparent public information campaign

Total Samples Collected During PCA Peanut Butter Incident Enviro. Swabs Ingredient Finished Product Snack Foods 249 58 224 Peanut Processors (5) 294 6 20 Ice Cream (2) 15 1 Animal Feed/Treats (2) 5 Total 573 65 250 10 companies representing 4 industries were thoroughly inspected as part of trace back and trace forward investigations of peanut processors in North Carolina. Some of these companies had direct links to PCA, and some were investigated upon order from the Commissioner. In total, over 880 samples were collected and analyzed. Many of the finished product samples from the snack food industry were shipped to participating FERN labs to assist with analysis. These samples were collected between January and April 2009. The snack food industry comprised the majority of our resources and efforts.

Entire Response 573 environmental samples 315 samples 8,316 subsamples

North Carolina’s Response Required 6,209 man hours 31,964 miles $248,588.20

Prevention Workshop held Enhanced routine inspections New science behind Salmonella Review of regulations Lessons learned Enhanced routine inspections Environmental sampling Finished product sampling