Running Free

Running Free

Monday, February 16, 2009

Peanut Gallery


“Mr. Chairman and members of the committee, on advice of my counsel, I respectively decline to answer your questions based on the protections afforded me under the U.S. Constitution"
- Stewart Parnell, president, Peanut Corporation of America, February 11, 2009

Seldom do I get riled up enough to share publicly my thoughts on too much outside the realm of my own safe cocoon. This is one of those times when I am just befuddled by the lack of ownership and sense of responsibility.

An Open Letter to Mr. Stewart Parnell, president of Peanut Corporation of America

Dear Mr. Parnell,

As you have probably heard, peanuts are not in good standing these days. As a matter of fact, the very word is enough to make a parent or caregiver cringe. Why is this you might ask?

Well, in a nutshell (no pun intended) it is largely due to your ignorance and apathy that peanuts, peanut butter and other related food sources are the source of salmonella that has intentionally been shared with the millions of residents of the United States of America – so thank you Mr. Parnell of the Peanut Corporation of America.

Listening to your testimony on Capitol Hill I could not help but cringe and shake my head. You took the fifth when a congressman asked you whether you would eat the salmonella-tainted peanuts sold to customers; you took the 5th Amendment, citing their right not to incriminate yourself in testimony. What?! What were you thinking? How vapid can you be? To quote my gal Eliza Doolittle, “Gawd!!!”

Written documentations have indicated that you complained in emails about losing money and saying that you were frustrated by the delay in shipping products.

Do you realize Mr. Parnell that your greed and utter lack of any concern for anyone but yourself has led to a salmonella outbreak that has resulted in 600 illnesses and eight deaths in the U.S. and federal criminal investigation is underway? This was a number from last week. It may be higher as I type.

How, I ask you, can you even look yourself in the mirror? Now I know I am far from a lovely morning sight, but at least I can look at myself and know that what I see is what I get. You on the other hand, you actually urged your workers to ship tainted products after receiving test results identifying salmonella. You Mr. Parnell actually implored your employees to "turn the raw peanuts on our floor into money," according to internal company e-mails disclosed Wednesday by a House committee.

The company e-mails obtained by the House panel showed that you Mr. Parnell, you the owner of Peanut Corp. of America ordered the shipments tainted with the bacteria to be sent because he was worried about lost sales. One word: UNBELIEVABLE.

As you well know, these disclosures came in correspondence released by a House Energy and Commerce.

Well, I hope you are happy; your greed has led to one of the largest recalls in history with more than 1,800 products pulled in the U.S. and more than 200 products in Canada. Imagine that. Just look what the miracle mile has led to Mr. Parnell.

You need to wake up and take responsibility for your mistake. Get busy making amends. I would suggest by saying you are sorry. It is the least you can do. Stewart Parnell, what do you say to your family when they ask: Are you happy now?

Sincerely,

C.A. Thorson
_________________________________________________________________________________
http://briefingroom.thehill.com/2009/02/11/peanut-execs-withdraw-into-shells-in-congress/
February 11, 2009


Peanut Execs Withdraw into Shells in Testimony
@ 4:42 pm by Michael O'Brien
When asked by a lawmaker today in Congressional testimony whether they would eat the salmonella-tainted peanuts sold to customers, executives of the Peanut Corporation of America pled the 5th Amendment, citing their right not to incriminate themselves in testimony.

Rep. Greg Walden (R-Ore.), holding up a jar of peanuts wrapped in police caution tape, asked peanut executives: "Would either of you be willing to take the lid off and eat any of these products right now, like the people on the panel ahead of you, their relatives, their loved ones did?"

Citing the advice of counsel Peanut Corporation of America Stewart Parnell invoked his constitutional right to not testify against himself. Sammy Lightsey, the manager of one of the company's plants, similarly invoked his 5th Amendment rights.

Lawmakers summoned the company's leaders to the Hill today to grill them on the processing that led to a salmonella outbreak in peanut products resulting in eight deaths and an estimated 600 illnesses

http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/20090211/peanut_emails_090211/20090211?hub=World

The Associated Press

WASHINGTON -- The owner of a peanut company blamed for a salmonella outbreak in the U.S. has appeared before a House subcommittee, but is refusing to testify.
Legislators ordered Peanut Corporation of America owner Stewart Parnell to appear at the hearing today.

He showed up, but refused to answer questions, invoking his constitutional right not to incriminate himself.
Earlier, the House Energy and Commerce Committee released the company's internal correspondence showing that Parnell was ordering tainted products to be sold even after confirmation of salmonella.

Parnell complains in emails about losing money and says he's frustrated by the delay in shipping products.

The salmonella outbreak has resulted in 600 illnesses and eight deaths in the U.S. and federal criminal investigation is underway.

The owner of a peanut company urged his workers to ship tainted products after receiving test results identifying salmonella, imploring employees to "turn the raw peanuts on our floor into money," according to internal company e-mails disclosed Wednesday by a House committee.
The company e-mails obtained by the House panel showed that Peanut Corp. of America owner Stewart Parnell ordered the shipments tainted with the bacteria to be sent because he was worried about lost sales.

At one point, Parnell said his workers "desperately at least need to turn the raw peanuts on our floor into money" and at another point told his plant manager to "turn them loose" after learning some peanuts were contaminated with salmonella.

The disclosures came in correspondence released by a House Energy and Commerce subcommittee Wednesday during a hearing on the salmonella outbreak that has sickened 600 people in the U.S., may be linked to eight deaths and has led to one of the largest recalls in history with more than 1,800 products pulled in the U.S. and more than 200 products in Canada.
A federal criminal investigation is underway.

"We appear to have a total systemic breakdown," said Rep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., chairman of the committee's investigations panel.

Parnell was ordered by subpoena to appear before the U.S. Congress on Wednesday to discuss `the outbreak blamed in large part on his Georgia plant.

In prepared testimony, a laboratory owner told the House panel that the peanut company's disregard for tests identifying salmonella in its product is "virtually unheard of" in the country's food industry and should prompt efforts to increase federal oversight of product safety.
Charles Deibel, president of Deibel Laboratories Inc., said his company was among those that tested Peanut Corp. of America's products and notified the Georgia plant that salmonella was found in some of its peanut stock. Peanut Corp. sold the products anyway, according to a U.S. Food and Drug Administration inspection report.

"It is not unusual for Deibel Labs or other food testing laboratories to find that samples clients submit do test positive for salmonella and other pathogens, nor is it unusual that clients request that samples be retested," Deibel said in prepared testimony to a House subcommittee. "What is virtually unheard of is for an entity to disregard those results and place potentially contaminated products into the stream of commerce."

Deibel said he hopes the crisis leads to a greater role for FDA in overseeing food safety and providing more guidance to food makers.

The investigation is starting to zero in on the question of who was responsible.
Stupak says he wants know how Peanut Corp. managed to sell allegedly tainted goods month after month without triggering action by state and federal health authorities.
The company, now under FBI investigation, makes only about one per cent of U.S. peanut products. But its ingredients are used by dozens of other food companies.
Federal law forbids producing or shipping foods under conditions that could harm consumers' health.

Peanut Corp.'s troubles mounted this week as the FBI raided corporate headquarters in Lynchburg, Va., as well as the Georgia plant. On Monday night, the company closed a second facility, in Plainview, Texas, after test results earlier in the day indicated salmonella was present in samples taken at the Texas plant. None of the products had been distributed to consumers, but the finding raised the prospect of a broader recall.

Further testing is needed to confirm the results, said Doug McBride, spokesman for the Texas Department of State Health Services.

After the results came back Monday, the FDA sent inspectors back to the Texas plant to check more thoroughly for signs of problems similar to those found at the Georgia plant, which has been identified as the source of the salmonella outbreak.

The company has said it is still investigating what happened and has expressed regret and concern for people who became ill. It is not clear whether Parnell will testify Wednesday or assert his constitutional right to not answer questions that may incriminate him.

2 comments:

Loring Wirbel said...

You notice they chose Chapter 7 instead of 11? After the Texas investigators found rat feces and rat bodies amidst the rubble, there was no choice but to run fast.

JohnLloydScharf said...

I have a concern about this. There are several diseases that are also a variety of salmonella. I believe that either the Plague, Typhoid, or Cholera are viruses of this species. Certainly, typhoid and cholera are transfered by human waste and perhaps animal waste.