Company lied to FDA about tainted peanut butter, agency says

[depakid]

Source: LA Times

Peanut Corp. of America, the company that produced the contaminated peanut butter now being widely recalled, lied to Food and Drug Administration investigators about shipping batches of the food known to be tainted with salmonella bacteria, the agency said Friday.

That contamination has led to the unprecedented nationwide recall of hundreds of products, including items as varied as cookies, crackers, health bars, ice cream and dog biscuits. The company had previously told the FDA that some lots of peanut butter had initially tested positive for the bacterium, then were retested and found to be negative before they were shipped.

But further investigation showed that the company actually shipped some of the lots before the second tests were completed. Other lots were shipped without testing and, in some cases, without a second test even after the first one came back positive.

The lots were shipped to a vast array of food manufacturers, and peanuts and peanut products from a Peanut Corp. plant have now been linked to eight deaths and 575 illnesses in 43 states. Beginning in January, food companies began initiating a massive recall of snacks and other foods containing the products. "I expect this outbreak to go on for a long time," in part because the foods have a long shelf life, said Caroline Smith DeWaal, the food safety director at the Center for Science in the Public Interest in Washington.


Read more: http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-sci-peanut-fda7-2009feb07,0,6413500.story

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There's your felony, Mr. Holder.

18 U.S.C. § 1001.

Statements or entries generally

(a) Except as otherwise provided in this section, whoever, in any matter within the jurisdiction of the executive, legislative, or judicial branch of the Government of the United States, knowingly and willfully--

(1) falsifies, conceals, or covers up by any trick, scheme, or device a material fact;

(2) makes any materially false, fictitious, or fraudulent statement or representation; or

(3) makes or uses any false writing or document knowing the same to contain any materially false, fictitious, or fraudulent statement or entry...
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Failure to prosecute all involved is now not just irresponsible, but inexscusable.

[whistle]

1. White collar criminals in the ranks of management at PC of A

[Downwinder]

4. Where the HELL is Homeland Security?

You have terrorists in Georgia poisoning the food chain. Isn't that what they have been training for?

[Kablooie]

9. Only if the company was run by Democrats. Republicans were not to be checked up on.

[ConcernedCanuk]

2. "I expect this outbreak to go on for a long time," - now that's scary

.
.
.

"I expect this outbreak to go on for a long time," in part because the foods have a long shelf life,"

/snip/
________________________________________________________________________

Now myself, being a poor person for over a decade, have used peanut butter as a staple - on crackers, bread, toast - - -

Peanut Butter USED to be a safe cheap source of protein and calories - -

what now?

Rich fucks have even screwed up cheap food?

[iamjoy]

15. Maybe It's The Beef Industry

You know, maybe the beef and poultry industry were in on it. Maybe they were worried that the recession would force people to economize and look for cheaper sources of protein - like peanut butter.

Next they're going to hit beans with e-coli.

Poison legumes, whole grain hard to find and expensive - they're making it so that if you want protein, you have to buy meat.

:tinfoilhat:

[yourout]

3. Anyone know if the owners are right wingers?

[dflprincess]

5. Given that they apparently have no social consciences I'd say the odds are high that they are

and I bet they consider themselves "prolifers" as well.

[depakid]

6. Given the location(s) and nature of the violations, I think it's pretty safe to assume

thta they an most of their management are....

[Kablooie]

10. I found this in another discussion group ...

Stewart Parnell, head of Peanut Corp, of America, the company who is poisoning people with the contaminated peanut butter, is a Republican hot-shot and a big Bush supporter. Leave it to the Repigs to poison our kids and elderly with bad food after leaving the FDA without funding to protect America.

[jberryhill]

12. Keep digging on this guy

You'll be pretty amazed what you find.

He lives... where?

[nebenaube]

17. Lynchberg, VA n/t

[jberryhill]

20. Yep....

What is his sister's married name?

Bonus point:

Now, what board was he appointed to during the Bush administration.

[nc4bo]

19. "Peanut company and its president keeping a low profile"

and according to this article, they've ALWAYS kept a low profile.
Poor Stewart :sarcasm:

http://www.newsadvance.com/lna/news/local/article/peanut_company_and_its_president_keeping_a_low_profile/13247/

Still a pilot, Stewart Parnell is a customer of Falwell Aviation. “I’ve known him for a long time,” said Kyle Falwell, manager of the Falwell airport. “I’ve always known him to be a good businessman.”

His stepmother, Beth Falwell, is Stewart Parnell’s sister. She was one of the few family members to speak out in recent weeks, as the family business has faced recalls and multiple lawsuits.

Speaking in tears in a late January interview with WSLS, she insisted the company had done nothing wrong. She also said reports about unsanitary conditions at Peanut Corporation of America’s Georgia plant were exaggerated.

Kyle Falwell would not comment on the salmonella situation. “It’s just unfortunate that the family’s having to go through that,” he said.

Well cry me a fucking river Mrs. Fawell.

[brentspeak]

7. Self-regulation, predictable results.

[Kablooie]

8. And we thought the Chinese were irresponsible.

[keroro gunsou]

11. at least the chinese

shoot the bastards that do something this freakin' greedy, dangerous, and completely STUPID.

[aquart]

13. Oh goody. We took their word for it.

I know one area that could do with beefed up hiring: INSPECTORS.

[No Elephants]

14. The whole lot of Bushco's "regulators" need to be fired. They've been trained NOT to regulate, just

to fill out paperwork and collect a salary. Throw da bums out!

[NickB79]

16. I wonder if the lab techs are going to be prosecuted along with management?

I work in a food lab, and if we find bacterial contamination it goes on hold immediately. It DOES NOT leave the warehouse on-site. If it ever were to be released by mistake, those trucks WOULD be recalled immediately. If the lab manager told me to release product I knew was contaminated, I would have to refuse and contact the plant manager and my union rep. to protect myself from future reprisals.

That people could gamble with people's lives like this blows my mind.

[du_grad]

21. I don't work in a food lab, but I do work in a clinical lab.

I cannot imagine how these techs were forced to lie about their work. Or, perhaps they didn't lie, but management above their heads DID lie. I cannot imagine this being done in my line of lab work. It will take awhile for all of this to unravel. I'm sure indictments will be coming. They are probably in the process of amassing all of the evidence now. They've got to do that before the company destroys all the records. If the actual plant was shoddily built, with rat holes and fungal contamination present, you can only imagine what kind of hell hole lab these techs were forced to work in. With cheap companies, everything seems to be cheaply run. If they didn't hire properly trained people, i.e. people with improper lab credentials, this could be a problem also. I have absolutely no insider information, I'm just speculating here.

Sampling is everything. You wonder if subsequent "samples" were not taken correctly. In micro, whether it be food or human, if you take an inadequate specimen it can directly affect your results. You also must wonder who was paying who off...it's all just terribly sad.

[Dont_Bogart_the_Pretzel]

18. I hate it when those rethugs keep saying we need less government.

Excuse...but that's why we have the FDA!

This IS one of the reasons the USA created the FDA

http://www.fda.gov/oc/history/historyoffda/default.htm
:snip:
The U S. Food and Drug Administration is a scientific, regulatory, and public health agency that oversees items accounting for 25 cents of every dollar spent by consumers. Its jurisdiction encompasses most food products (other than meat and poultry), human and animal drugs, therapeutic agents of biological origin, medical devices, radiation-emitting products for consumer, medical, and occupational use, cosmetics, and animal feed.