Critics Say Company Mishandled Pot Pie Recall

By JOSH FUNK

OMAHA – Critics say ConAgra Foods Inc.’s delay in recalling pot pies linked to a nationwide salmonella outbreak increased the chance that more people would become sick, opened up the company to greater liability, and exposed a key weakness in the nation’s food safety system: voluntary recalls.

“It’s clear that this recall wasn’t well handled, and the outbreak may well grow,” said Caroline Smith DeWaal, director of the Center for Science in the Public Interest’s food safety division.

ConAgra issued a health alert Tuesday afternoon and asked stores nationwide to stop selling Banquet and store-brand chicken and turkey pot pies, but the company didn’t recall the pies until Thursday evening. The company and federal officials warned customers not to eat the pot pies and to throw them away, and ConAgra is offering refunds.

The recall, which also includes beef pot pies to avoid confusion, affects all varieties sold under the store brands Albertson’s, Hill Country Fare, Food Lion, Great Value (sold at Wal-Mart stores), Kirkwood, Kroger, Meijer and Western Family.

Even though the pot pies made by ConAgra have been linked to at least 174 cases of salmonella in 32 states, the U.S. Department of Agriculture did not have the authority to require the company to recall the pot pies.

The federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said at least 33 people have been hospitalized as part of the ongoing outbreak, but so far no deaths have been reported.

ConAgra spokeswoman Melissa Baron said Friday that the company still didn’t know any more about the problem with its pot pies than it did when the alert was issued. She said recalling the product was a precaution.

Originally published by THE ASSOCIATED PRESS.

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