San Antonio, TexasA food processing plant in San Antonio has been found to be contaminated with Listeria bacteria, federal health authorities reported earlier today. Texas authorities have linked four wrongful deaths to contaminated celery produced at the plant.
The Food and Drug Agency (FDA) said it found Listeria in multiple locations in the SanGar Produce and Processing Co plant. This confirms findings from tests done in October by the Texas Department of State Health Services.
The Texas Health authority closed the plant on October 20th, and ordered a recall of all produce shipped from the facility since January 2010, CBS News reported.
"It comes as no surprise to us," Texas health department spokeswoman Carrie Williams said Wednesday of the FDA's findings. "If there was any doubt out there, this erases it. It's another layer of confirmation that this plant had serious issues," she told CBS News.
In addition to celery, the SanGar plant also produced pineapple, honeydew and lettuce. The state health department initially traced six of 10 known cases of listeriosis during an eight-month period to celery processed at the SanGar plant, including the four deaths. And last week, the department was able to link a seventh case to SanGar, Williams told CBS.