Statement from Mia Cohen, COO, Setton Pistachio of Terra Bella Inc. in response to the release of the 483

The 483 report overlooks critical details relevant to this investigation and we have alerted FDA to that information. When all of the facts are taken into account, the evidence clearly demonstrates that no shipment of pistachios left our facility following a positive test for salmonella. And to the extent that any positive results were reported to us by our outside lab after shipment, we took immediate action to alert our customer and ensure the product in question was either quarantined or returned to us for remedial action.

Food safety is an issue we take very seriously which is why we acted swiftly when we first learned of the possibility of salmonella contamination. Immediately after receiving the first positive result in October, 2008, our company hired the American Council for Food Safety and Quality - known as DFA in California - to review our operation. DFA conducted hundreds of tests from October to February and could find no evidence of Salmonella in our facility.

Our company has implemented a comprehensive and aggressive food safety program which places us at the forefront of the industry. We have made physical changes to our facility, redesigned many processes and conducted an intensive review of our operations under the guidance of renowned food-safety experts. We have invested significant resources to thoroughly modernize and redesign our processing facility in California to address all of the concerns raised by FDA as well as proactively making additional improvements. Our company's commitment to food safety is absolute and unwavering in order to continue to provide the highest quality pistachios to our customers. In our 23 year operating history, we had never received an illness related complaint prior to the recall and we aim to do everything possible to build on that record.