WASHINGTON, DC: Lab confirmed salmonella for Ga. peanut plant

29.jan.09
Associated Press
Ricardo Alonso-Zaldivar

WASHINGTON -- A lab company president called to testify before Congress
in the salmonella outbreak investigation said Thursday that
manufacturers "can't retest away a positive result."
Charles Diebel, whose labs conducted tests for Peanut Corp. of America,
said that if 100 containers were tested and only one or two turned up
salmonella, the company should "throw the whole lot out."
Federal health officials say Peanut Corp. shipped tainted peanut
products from its Blakely, Ga., facility after retesting them and
getting a negative result for salmonella.
Deibel said his company - Deibel Labs Inc. - did not conduct day-to-day
testing for the Blakely plant, but was asked on occasion to carry out
certain tests. He said the company has turned over bacterial cultures to
federal investigators.
Deibel and the president of another lab, J. Leek Associates Inc., have
been called to testify Feb. 11 before the House Energy and Commerce
Committee. The Deibel firm has been in existence since the 1960s and has
its main lab in Chicago