Peanut company owner sentenced to jail
For putting profit first over public safety and health, a former peanut company executive is facing 28 years in jail for allowing the shipment of salmonella-contaminated peanut butter. The 61-year-old Stewart Parnell of the now-shuttered Peanut Corporation of America will most likely spend the rest of his days dressed in prison garb while reflecting on the turn of events following the salmonella outbreak in 2008 and 2009 that resulted in the death of nine people and caused critical illness for 700 others in several states in the US.
The outbreak was traced back to the peanut butter products from PCA whose manufacturing plant was described as filthy as well as roach and rat infested. Apparently, Parnell, portrayed by his defense lawyers as a small businessman who did not know that his plant was being mismanaged, was aware that the products were already contaminated but he still told a plant manager via email to “Just ship it.”
Salmonella bacteria – usually found in meat, poultry, eggs and unpasteurized milk – is often the cause of food poisoning and illnesses like typhoid fever. The bacteria is also present in fruits and vegetables, and according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, salmonella is a leading cause of foodborne illnesses with close to 500 people dying and over one million more getting sick every year in the US.
Late last year, the Food and Drug Administration of the Philippines issued an advisory about a voluntary recall of peanut butter products from the distributors of Arrowhead Mills after several batches tested positive for salmonella. It can also be recalled that in 2009, the FDA ordered a recall of all food products from a local manufacturer after lab results showed that its peanut butter products were contaminated with salmonella. The FDA subsequently suspended the company’s license to operate after an audit inspection by the Bureau of Food and Drugs showed that it has continuously violated “current Good Manufacturing Practices” and Administrative Order 153.
Reports say the sentence of Parnell is unprecedented as it is the stiffest penalty for an executive in relation to a food poisoning case. Families of the victims however say the businessman was actually facing 800 years in prison for “72 counts of fraud, conspiracy and the introduction of adulterated food into interstate commerce.”
Food safety activists claims that very year, an estimated 48