At Whole Foods Market, we share our customers’ concern and dismay over the food safety compliance issues that the FDA and other agencies have discovered at PCA’s peanut processing facilities.

With more than 2,100 products recalled nationwide, we are thankful that the impact on products sold in our stores has been more limited in scope. As you may know, to date none of our 365 Private Label products have been affected by this recall.

We expect our suppliers to conduct business in a certain manner and we are determined to work with our product manufacturers to address problems that this PCA recall brings to light. While we go about making changes, it is important to note that PCA is facing federal criminal charges for their actions, which include not sharing negative lab results with the manufacturers who bought their products. Their actions affected many vendors, large and small, as well as consumers who became ill. The solution for this must come from a large government and industry effort to ensure the safety of our food supply.

In addition to recalled products from third-party suppliers that we sell in our stores, we are concerned about some of the bulk products we provided to our customers that came directly or indirectly from PCA facilities. (These products have been removed from our shelves or recalled.) We always expect our suppliers to conduct business in compliance with all laws and to follow all regulatory procedures. Now, however, we are revising our policies and procedures around bulk products, both prepacked and bin items. We are actively working with our suppliers to establish more stringent protocols for these products.

Due to the empowerment of our stores for local and regional buying, our supply chain is very diverse. While we take great pride in the fact that our stores carry local products and go above and beyond to try to meet our customers’ needs, it is a bit unwieldy when one of the largest recalls in U.S. history comes knocking at the door. With a nationalized supply chain, we could have more visibility into what each store had in stock that was affected — because every single store would have the exact same products. But we think the trade-off in doing that wouldn’t allow us to be the company our customers and team members want us to be. So, we will continue to offer local buying but we will also work to put systems in place to help monitor our vendors more closely.

We will also continue to work closely with the suppliers whose products we carry, as well as federal and local government agencies, to learn more about this crisis and work together to prevent recurrences.

And while we in no way defend PCA or their actions, we do want to clarify a couple of issues. PCA was not considered a “bargain house” in the supply chain. There are varying grades of nuts and we provided top grade nuts in our stores. While other stores may have also carried PCA nuts, if they cost substantially less than ours, they most likely were a different grade of nut. Also, PCA was certified to the USDA’s National Organic Standards by Organic Crop Improvement Association (OCIA), a third-party organic certifier approved by the USDA. The standard requires that the facility prevent commingling between organic and conventional products, that organic products are protected from contamination with synthetic substances, and that the suppliers to the facility are also certified. The standard also requires that all lines are fully cleaned between conventional and organic production. Many facilities process organic and conventional products, and it is the responsibility of the organic certifier to confirm they have processes in place to ensure the products are not commingled.

We hope this helps answer some of your questions. Please know that we are continually working on this issue and developing ideas on how to better serve you, our customers.

I bought a package a few weeks ago and have been eating them with no issues. However I’ve noticed that they haven’t been in the freezer case at the Whole Foods I shop at for the last two weeks. Not sure if they are just out of stock or pulled as part of the recall.