As predicted in our earlier entry, the investigation into the salmonella outbreak has now become a criminal investigation of Peanut Corporation of America. Recently, it was learned that company officials knew that prior batches of its product were contaminated but shipped them anyway. The Food and Drug Administration is spearheading the investigation.
The company in Blakely, Georgia is accused of causing the deaths of at least eight people and the sickening of over 500 in 43 states and Canada.
Peanut Corp. of America, a family-owned business based in Lynchburg, Va. The sister of the PCA President, Stewart Parnell, has asked for people to give them the benefit of the doubt and insists that accounts of filthy conditions are probably overblown. She better hope so, because If the prior contamination stories are true, these peanut butter makers can stick a fork in themselves because they are done. Jurors do not like people tainting the food that they routinely feed their children.
In addition to the criminal liability, the company will be hit with a likely massive tort case and regulatory fines. This would likely by the end of the Parnell’s work in peanuts.
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Repost, but in a more appropriate thread.
Submitted for your consideration:
I heard someone, I didn’t catch his name but he was an Obama appointee talking about possible restructuring of various departments within government to improve efficiency on NPR with Neil Conan. The part of the interview I caught mentioned possibly splitting FDA and USDA joint duties for food safety to create a separate Drug Administration and a Food Safety Administration. While I love this idea for many reasons, I haven’t seen a lot about the nuts and bolts ideas on this kind of practical work that needs to be done in the MSM and the alternative media is just as sketchy so far. I was wondering if you, or any of the regulars, had any more good info on these kinds of proposed changes to the way government delivers services?