Denver Post: Peanut Company Executives take the Fifth
Peanut Company Executives Take the Fifth
Thursday, February 12, 2009
By Michael Riley
WASHINGTON — Officials from Peanut Corporation of America subpoenaed totestify before Congress refused to answer questions Wednesday afterlawmakers revealed that internal company tests had found salmonellacontamination at least 12 times between January 2007 and September 2008.
Peanut Company Executives Take the Fifth
Thursday, February 12, 2009
By Michael Riley
WASHINGTON — Officials from Peanut Corporation of America subpoenaed totestify before Congress refused to answer questions Wednesday afterlawmakers revealed that internal company tests had found salmonellacontamination at least 12 times between January 2007 and September 2008.
Congressional investigators accused officials at the Virginia-basedcompany of intentionally shipping contaminated products to customers,part of a chain of events that led to one of the deadliestfood-poisoning incidences in U.S. history.
Current law doesn'trequire that those tests be reported to health inspectors, and afterthe company had one batch retested, Peanut Corporation presidentStewart Parnell ordered the tainted batch released to food producers,telling managers "to turn them loose."
Parnell complained inone e-mail that delays from positive salmonella tests were "costing ushuge $$$$$." And investigators found that company officials stoppedusing one testing company after complaining they were getting back toomany positive results.
In October 2008, plant manager SammyLightsey told a tester who called to report salmonella in one batchthat he couldn't get the contaminated batch back "because it was on atruck heading to Utah," the tester told Energy and Commerce Committeeinvestigators.
The reports plainly enraged lawmakers.
"This is clearly criminal activity," said Rep. Diana DeGette, vicechair of the committee, after the hearing in which Parnell cited hisFifth Amendment right against self-incrimination, then left the Capitoltrailed by question-shouting reporters.
The Denvercongresswoman and other lawmakers repeatedly expressed frustration atthe slow pace of reform of the country's food-safety system, whichrelies heavily on companies to police themselves and often hobblesenforcement agencies.
In this case, the Food and DrugAdministration didn't have the legal power to institute a forced recallof food containing Peanut Corporation products, contributing to thespread of a salmonella outbreak that has so far killed nine people —the latest announced Wednesday — and sickened more than 600 — 16 inColorado.
Just this week, Denver-based Liks Ice Creamvoluntarily recalled two of its products sold at 12 retail storesacross the state. The company said there have been no reports ofillness from consuming its chocolate peanut-butter cup and vanillapeanut-butter cup ice cream.
A comprehensive food-safety billwas reintroduced earlier this year by Rep. John Dingell, D-Mich., butDeGette is pushing for more immediate steps, including separate billsthat would give the FDA mandatory recall authority as well as theability to trace the trail of ingredients in the country's complicatedfood-supply system.
Both the scope of the Peanut Corporationpoisoning and the symbolism of peanut butter — all-American and afavorite of children — are likely to finally push lawmakers to enactsweeping reforms, DeGette said.
"This peanut-butter outbreak,coming on the tail of so many other scares in the last couple of years,will be the tipping point," DeGette said. "My sense is that acomprehensive bill just got moved much farther up the agenda."
Among the witnesses at Wednesday's hearings were the family members ofvictims, including Lou Tousignant, the son of a Korean War veteran whobluntly told lawmakers "my father died from eating peanut butter."
Tousignant said the incident and the revelations about PeanutCorporation show the weaknesses of a system based on the goodwill ofcompanies — even companies responsible for something as essential asfood — to report problems that might cost them money.
"I knowthere are plenty of companies out there who are running ethicalbusinesses," Tousignant said, "but we have to be concerned about thosewho aren't."