ATLANTA - Gov. Sonny Perdue has asked the Georgia Bureau of Investigation to look into the south Georgia peanut butter plant at the heart of the salmonella outbreak.
The governor has instructed the GBI to see whether the state has jurisdiction under Georgia law to investigate violations at the Georgia plant. Lawmakers have called on federal authorities to launch a criminal investigation.
Perdue spokesman Bert Brantley said Perdue involved the GBI at the request of Georgia Agriculture Commissioner Tommy Irvin. Perdue and Irvin met at the governor's mansion Wednesday night to discuss the case. More than 500 people have gotten sick in the U.S. outbreak, and at least eight may have died as a result of salmonella infection from tainted peanut butter.
