Peanut Co. Owner Urged Shipping Tainted Products

[Purveyor]

Source: Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) — Internal e-mails indicate the owner of a peanut company urged his workers to ship tainted products after receiving test results identifying salmonella.

The company e-mails obtained by a House committee show Peanut Corp. of America owner Stewart Parnell ordered the shipments tainted with the bacteria because he was worried about lost sales.

Read more: http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5g6wW8Vl15TX-mo9uEnUcS3fa4CfQD969EQS00

[RamboLiberal]

1. Let him eat Peanut Butter sandwiches in prison

He needs to be charged with murder or at the least manslaughter!

[drgonzosghost]

9. If I was the dad of one of those kids that died....

I'd shove a whole jar of that stuff down his throat. This "Tale of Two Cities" crap that's happening in our country right now is going to come to a head real damn soon I think.

[frylock]

10. i hope it does..

i really do. it's a scary thought, but it's time for the people to rise up.

[Milspec]

17. I would too

Still in the Jar

[Bake]

50. Make him eat the peanut butter and then shove the jar up his @ss.

Just a thought.

Bake

[guitar man]

29. me too!

If it was my kid, he'd get the largest sized jar they make. And I don't know that I would necessarily shove it down his throat either, I may shove it elsewhere! :grr:

[UpInArms]

2. Parnell Off Federal Peanut Butter Board

http://www.injuryboard.com/national-news/parnell-off-federal-peanut-butter-board.aspx?googleid=256796

It’s difficult to believe it hasn’t happened sooner, but there has already been a shakeup in new Department of Agriculture Peanut Standards Board.

On Thursday, Barack Obama’s new Secretary of Agriculture, Tom Vilsack, removed Stewart Parnell as a member of the board.

Parnell is the president and CEO of Peanut Corp. of America (PCA), the company whose Blakely, Georgia plant has been identified as the source of a nationwide salmonella outbreak.

The board is staffed voluntarily and advises the Secretary of Agriculture on the handling standards for peanuts grown and marketed domestically as well as imported.

Parnell has been on the board since 2005.

Banned From Business

Also on Thursday, Peanut Corporation of America, based in Lynchburg, Virginia was excluded from any role in federal government contracts as an agent or representative supplying peanut or peanut products to the federal government, according to the Department of Agriculture. That suspension is to last one year.

...more...

this SOB needs some jam sandwiches

[lurky]

8. Gee, a crook appointed to regulate his own business...

I couldn't think of a better emblem of Republican values at work.

[daggahead]

13. Money trumps life (except for a human fetus).

That's the main tenet of republican living.

[lurky]

18. Yep. n/t

[BanzaiBonnie]

20. Was that a Parnell who used his kids to stage

BS that supposedly made his little girl cry.

Is that the same last name or was it different?

[LeftyMom]

30. I believe you're thinking of Phil Parlock?

http://www.democraticunderground.com/top10/04/171.html

http://mediamatters.org/items/200409170013

http://wonkette.com/21497/democrats-hate-children-but-so-does-phil-parlock

http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=parlock

[louis-t]

3. Stewart Parnell, be thankful you don't live in China.

'Cause yer goose would be cooked. In peanut oil. 'N stuff.

[Auggie]

7. Very well said

[n2doc]

16. amazing that they are harder on criminals than we are.

I don't want him executed, but he needs to be in Jail for a long time and his assets confiscated. I suspect the latter will happen after the blizzard of lawsuits finishes with him.

[earcandle]

4. What a Dickhead. He knowingly put peeps in danger for profit. This is how it is, folks.

[samdogmom]

5. I am flashing to a passage in Molly Ivin's book "Bushwacked"*.

She basically recommended that Americans don't eat when Republicans are in charge of the country. Wow...she knew what she was talking about!

*See Chapter 8 (pg. 125-151) "Ready to Eat?"

YIKES...Did Molly know what she was talking about or what?

[Purveyor]

6. Update: Peanut Company Owner Refuses To Testify

(02-11) 09:39 PST WASHINGTON, (AP) --

The owner of a peanut company blamed for a salmonella outbreak has appeared before a House subcommittee, but is refusing to testify.

Lawmakers ordered Peanut Corporation of America owner Stewart Parnell to appear at the hearing Wednesday. He showed up, but refused to answer questions, invoking his constitutional right not to incriminate himself.

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2009/02/10/national/w142349S81.DTL

[Highway61]

11. Took a Page out of Rove's book?

People DIED. He should be charged with murder! Period. Enough of this "refuse to testify" shit.

[jberryhill]

21. No

Rove refused to appear.

Everyone has a Fifth Amendment right not to testify against themselves.

But in order to assert that right, you have to show up.

Parnell appeared, and asserted his Fifth Amendment right.

[Highway61]

42. Right...You steal, do something really wrong

Go to court...refuse to say anything. Let's guess what happens to you?

[LostinVA]

48. You don't have to legally say anything self-incriminating

It is a Constitutional RIGHT. NO ONE can make you do that. It would be the same for you as for anyone.

Parnell wasn't in a court of law, btw. I do hope he gets criminal charges against him and does get convicted. And, he can get convicted even if he pleads his the Fifth Amendment.

[LostinVA]

47. He has a Constitutional right not to testify -- I won't fault him for that

I do think he needs to be brought up on criminal charges.

[alcibiades_mystery]

52. Not a big fan of the Fifth Amendment?

:shrug:

[kestrel91316]

15. Tell him either he testifies or he gets THIS:

[jberryhill]

22. Do these words sound familiar to you?

No person shall be held to answer for a capital, or otherwise infamous crime, unless on a presentment or indictment of a Grand Jury, except in cases arising in the land or naval forces, or in the Militia, when in actual service in time of War or public danger; nor shall any person be subject for the same offense to be twice put in jeopardy of life or limb; nor shall be compelled in any criminal case to be a witness against himself, nor be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor shall private property be taken for public use, without just compensation.


The emails are going to send him to the pokey on some form of reckless homicide.

Your right to speak your mind on DU is governed by the same document that provides his right not to provide incriminating testimony against himself.

[kestrel91316]

32. I didn't just fall off a turnip truck, lol. I am well aware of his right

against self-incrimination. That he invoked this right when asked if he was willing to eat his own product speaks volumes.

I'm all for a fair trial and then the guillotine. He's a murderer of the worst sort - he did it for profit.

[jberryhill]

40. Absolutely

The spectacle of taking the Fifth when asked to eat his own product WAS the guillotine.

Part of the point here is to ensure that a relevant state prosecutor can't just bury what happened here.

I admire Parnell's attorney. It is very hard to get a client to follow instructions to a T. By the look on Parnell's face when he was evaluating his answer to "Did you hear the last panel" you could see the wheels turning in his head.... "Jesus... I gotta do this for EVERY question?" But he stuck it out. And that is a victory for the Constitution.

I wasn't thinking you fell off of a turnip truck. But, hey, at least it wasn't a peanut truck either!

[alcibiades_mystery]

53. I'll stick with the Bill of Rights

:wow:

[kestrel91316]

12. It's a pity that he probably can't be charged with MURDER for the

8 deaths from his product.

[jberryhill]

25. Depends on which state

Different states give different names to various forms of the generic term "homicide".

A "homicide" is any killing of a human, and the word itself is not a crime.

There are "criminal homicides" of such types as:

Negligent homicide - your carelessness killed someone. Often called manslaughter.

Murder - an intentional homicide. These may be graded according to the type of intent, such as whether premeditated.

What we have here, based on the emails, is something above mere negligence, and into recklessness.

Negligence is along the lines of "you should have been more careful."

Recklessnes is more like "WTF were you doing?" It is an intentional and knowing failure to exercise caution in the face of a substantial likelihood of resulting injury.

The dividing line between negligence and recklessness, in some states, results in a substantial upgrade from manslaughter to some grade of murder.

[Confusious]

35. I think he could be

Emails HE sent, ordering people to send the peanut butter out KNOWING that the stuff was tainted.

Thats a pretty strong case for manslaughter at least, if not murder 2.

[alsame]

36. He should be charged with something, that's for sure. This SOB

knew that his product was dangerous and didn't give a damn. Not one thought about the millions of children that eat pb and pb products.

[williesgirl]

14. Indict this fucker for murder. This was intentional since he knew it was tainted and folks would

die. Also anyone receiving those email and knowing the test results who did nothing but obey this criminal needs to be indicted as well. We need a strong lesson to corporations that this shit won't fly. rec'd

[LostinVA]

49. I agree -- he should come up on criminal charges

I'm sure he also broke Federal laws. Throw his ass in prison for the next 50 years, and let the families of those who died beggar him in civil suits.

[Historic NY]

19. Can we tranfer the case to China's courts...

they handed out justice in the milk case.

[antimatter98]

23. Let his kids eat the products of his plant.

Typical Republican businessman. I suspect he's also a well respected member of
his local church (but I don't know).

We see in this situation, the 'business rules all' mentality.

Again, this would be a terrorist act under the Patriot Act (if you or I
planted tainted peanut butter on the shelves of our stores), but because
he's the owner and most likely a Republican, nothing will happen to him.

He deserves to be sent to Gitmo for a nice little vacation.

[jberryhill]

27. "I suspect he's also a well respected member of his local church"

Let me help you out here...


http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/28939250/

LYNCHBURG, Va. - The family in charge of the company that shipped salmonella-contaminated peanut products blamed for sickening hundreds of people claims that reports of filthy condition at the company’s shuttered Georgia plant are “exaggerated” and insists that the company broke no laws.

<...>

In an interview Thursday, Beth Falwell, the sister of PCA President Stewart Parnell and daughter of PCA’s founder, vigorously defended the company, saying the FDA’s report was flawed and “exaggerated.”

[McCamy Taylor]

24. This man is a murderer.

[jberryhill]

26. In many states, yes

The emails demonstrate conduct well past negligence and into recklessness which, in many states, is a sufficient degree of intent to get one into a grade of murder.

[SouthernLiberal]

31. Murder or worse!

In 1982 seven people died as a result of a poison added to an over the counter medicine. Although no one was caught, there is no question that this was murder.

In 2001 someone sent envelopes containing anthrax spores to news media and a couple of Senators. Five people died, and 17 others became ill. Regardless of what you think about the FBI's favorite suspect, we all call this an act of terrorism...'BIOTERRROR!!!' scream the headlines.


In 2009, we learn that salmonella in peanut butter products has sickened nearly 600 people, and the last time I checked, eight were dead. It is later revealed that the company that prepared the peanuts for use as ingredients in food products shipped product knowing that it had tested positive for salmonella. News stories indicate that this was not totally accidental, that in at least some cases the tests were positive before the product was shipped.

Does the media scream BIOTERROR again? No.
Do we hear promises that the murders will be punished from our politicians? No.

After all, it isn't any one important who died... just children and elderly people. Just a good Republican businessman making a profit.

[dipsydoodle]

28. Reminds me of the continued distibution

of known flawed polio vaccine until stocks were low or exhausted : http://www.sv40foundation.org/CPV-link.html

That was done with the full knowledge of your National Institute of Health....sic.

[RamboLiberal]

33. One of the victims who survived

Members of Congress who repeatedly huff and puff over the treacherous deficiencies in the government's protection of the nation's food supply came face-to-face today with a 3-year-old boy who nearly died because his favorite snack was filled with salmonella-tainted peanut butter.

When Rep. Henry Waxman gaveled his House Energy and Commerce Committee hearing into action this morning, the parents of Jacob Hurley were there to describe how they came close to losing their son last month. And according to Waxman, it happened because of the apparent greed of the owners of Peanut Corp. of America and the Food and Drug Administration's inadequate food-inspection system.

Waxman opened the hearing to a packed room by waving documents that he said showed that the Peanut Corp. of America was "a company that was more concerned with its bottom line than the safety of its customers."

The California Democrat said the company was notified last September by a private lab that its products had tested positive for salmonella.

http://blog.seattlepi.nwsource.com/secretingredients/archives/161777.asp

This jerk and all his minions who knew they shipped a tainted product needs to be imprisoned with pictures of their victims posted on their jail cell walls!

[Confusious]

34. I called the corporate offices of peanut corp

Got and answering machine. Left the message " I think every one of your senior management should be arrested and tried for murder"

I don't do this sort of thing. I'm just sick and tired and at the end of my rope. Something needs to be done, or the pitchforks and torches will come out.

Does anyone know where you can get a pitchfork? Just in case :)

[UpInArms]

37. $24.88 on feeBay

http://cgi.ebay.com/Old-Kansas-Farm-3-Tine-Pitchfork-Bundle-Fork-w-Handle_W0QQitemZ360125367957QQcmdZViewItemQQptZFolk_Art

[jberryhill]

41. You can get a Chinese-made pitchfork at Wal-Mart

But hurry up, Wal-Mart is having layoffs.

[Mari333]

38. Its all about making money

no ethics no regulation no oversight no trained workers no unions no integrity
its all about the last 8 years of this..but now the party is over for guys like this.

[Nikia]

39. Being in the food industry, I have found the details interesting

Because I know how this sort of thing could happen. In some ways, I saw the possibility of the same thing happening where I work. I think that this sort of thing is more likely at private companies. I am guessing, like at my company, the key employees that let the product be shipped and didn't recall it until there was a major problem were all afraid of him. The result is that the company is probably going to go out of business. Every person with any authority there is going to have trouble finding another job. Mr. Parnell may be prosecuted. They lost their gamble.
What has happened has been a wake up call though for our company and I don't think that we will ever face the pressure that the Peanut Corp. employees faces and even if we did, we relize the importance odf doing the right thing. I hope that it makes the same impression on other company owners and employees.

[UpInArms]

43. OMG! here's one of this murderer's email claiming "no salmonella"

from the smokinggun

http://www.thesmokinggun.com/archive/years/2009/0211092peanuts2.html

[depakid]

44. And this guy and his employees who follwed his instructions haven't been indicted?

[Blue_Tires]

46. i'm surprised, too

this story better not have any ending other than management going to prison for 10+ years, and their business dismantled...

[Blue_Tires]

45. wow...who knew?

sleazy businessman knowingly sacrifices environmental/consumer health all in the name of short term profit??

these reruns are getting old...i'm beginning to honestly wonder if there is anything i can safely put in my body free of worry...

[Broken_Hero]

51. Jesus H. Christ

what a piece of work this jerkwad is...

This whole situation is just sad, and aggravating all at the same time.

Reminds me of an old LHOTP episode.

[No Elephants]

54. Calling Ken Lay's cardiologist; calling Ken Lay's cardiologist; calling

[951-Riverside]

55. In China he would face the death penalty n/t