Delay in potpie recall criticized

omaha, neb. -- Critics say ConAgra Foods Inc.’s delay in recalling potpies 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 potpies, but the company didn’t recall the pies until Thursday evening. The company and federal officials warned customers not to eat the potpies and to throw them away, and ConAgra is offering refunds.

The recall, which also includes beef potpies 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 potpies 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 potpies. 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 potpies than it did when the alert was issued. She said recalling the product was a precaution.

“We want to make absolutely certain that consumers are safe, and while the investigation into the matter continues, we wanted to reinforce that consumers should not eat these products,” Baron said.

USDA spokeswoman Amanda Eamich said ConAgra made the decision to recall the potpies on its own. USDA investigators were still working to find the source of the salmonella contamination, she said.

Bill Marler, a lawyer from Seattle-based firm Marler Clark, said if anyone bought ConAgra’s potpies after the company knew about the link to the salmonella outbreak, the company could face punitive damages in a lawsuit because the product wasn’t immediately recalled.

“Without a recall, the stuff was still on the shelves and being sold,” said Marler, who handles many food-borne illness cases. His firm already has filed a lawsuit against ConAgra over the potpies.

“You’re looking at the perfect example of a broken system,” Rep. Rosa DeLauro said about the potpie recall.

Earlier this year, the Connecticut Democrat helped introduce legislation that would give the FDA the power to order mandatory recalls of adulterated food products, plus establish fines for companies that don’t promptly report contaminated products.

“It is a voluntary recall, so it is up to the industry,” DeLauro said.

ConAgra shut down the potpie production line at its Marshall, Mo., plant, but the rest of the plant, which employs about 650 people, has continued operating.

“No other products, including Marie Callender’s potpies, are in question,” Baron said. The Marie Callender’s potpies are made at a different plant in Council Bluffs, Iowa.

ConAgra officials would not say how many potpies were affected by the recall or how many ConAgra produces. But a Citigroup analyst has said the Banquet chicken and turkey potpie business generated about $100 million in sales a year for ConAgra.

Baron said the company didn’t know yet how much the recall would cost.

Salmonella poisoning can cause diarrhea, fever, dehydration, abdominal pain and vomiting. Most cases are caused by undercooked eggs and chicken.