A closed Peanut Corp. of America (PCA) plant in Texas has been tied to six cases of salmonella poisoning in Colorado. The PCA Plainview, Texas plant was closed last week after possible salmonella contamination was found there.  Despite having been in operation since 2005, the Plainview facility was unlicensed, and had never been inspected before the salmonella outbreak.

Late last week, all products made at the Plainview facility were recalled after Texas Health Department inspectors discovered appalling conditions there.  Those conditions included dead rodents, rodent excrement and bird feathers in a crawl space above a production area.  According to the Associated Press, the plant’s air handling system was pulling debris from the infested crawl space into production areas. 

The six salmonella victims are all from Colorado.  According to the Colorado Health Department, they range in age from ages 2 through 60.  One had to hospitalized.  Their illnesses traced to peanut butter sold by Vitamin Cottage stores that had been made with PCA peanuts, the health department said.

Vitamin Cottage is one of the many companies that has recalled products made with PCA ingredients in recent weeks.  Those recalls now exceed 2000, and the Food & Drug Administration (FDA) has had to establish a searchable database to help consumers track the recalls.

The Plainview facility is the second PCA plant to be implicated in a nationwide salmonella outbreak that has killed 9 people and sickened more than 600.   Last month, the company’s factory in Blakely, Georgia was closed after salmonella-tainted foods were discovered there.  Recent  inspections of the Georgia plant found that PCA shipped peanuts that tested positive for salmonella contamination at least a dozen times in 2007 and 2008.

PCA officials told the FDA  that the suspect  peanuts tested negative for the bacteria in a second round of testing.  But  the FDA later found that  PCA actually shipped some of the peanuts before the second tests were completed. Other lots were shipped without testing and, in some cases, no second test was performed even after the first one came back positive.

PCA is now the subject of a criminal probe, as knowingly shipping tainted foods is a violation of federal law.

Late Friday, PCA filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy.  A statement from PCA’s attorney blamed the fallout from the salmonella scandal for the filing.