FDA Says Production Error at Fault in Pistachio Salmonella Contamination

David Acheson, a top federal food safety official, stated on March 31, 2009, that a basic error on the production lines at Setton Pistachio of Terra Bella, California, the nation's second-largest processor of the pistachios, caused its pistachios to be contaminated with salmonella.  According to Mr. Acheson, the assistant commissioner for food protection at the FDA, Setton Pistachio ran raw and roasted pistachios through the same machinery on several production lines.  Salmonella bacteria can live on raw nuts but is usually killed during the roasting process.  Good manufacturing standards require raw nuts to be kept separate from roasted nuts so that bacteria does not spread between the two.

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