Food Poisoning Law Blog : Food Poisoning Lawyer & Attorney : PritzkerLaw : Food Safety, Outbreaks & Recalls

The chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee has written to Attorney General Eric Holder urging him to file criminal charges, if appropriate, against Peanut Corporation of America and its president, Stewart Parnell.

The now-defunct company sold Salmonella-tainted peanuts and peanut products in late 2008 and early 2009 that caused a massive outbreak of Salmonella Typhimurium that killed nine people and sickened more than 700 others. Sen. Patrick Leahy's letter to the attorney general requested an update on the Department of Justice investigation that began in 2009.

Leahy, of Vermont, said last summer's Salmonella egg outbreak served as a reminder that "there continue to be corporations and individuals that place profitability above public safety.'' When crimes are committed, such wrongdoers must be held fully accountable for their actions, Leahy wrote. Referring to Parnell and the Virginia-based peanut company that Parnell ran, the judiciary chairman wrote that PCA knowingly distributed potentially contaminated peanuts for use in hundreds of different food products even after samples tested positive for Salmonella more than a dozen times in the two years before the outbreak.

"Evidence suggests that PCA also shopped for a laboratory that would provide the acceptable results they were seeking after initial tests found their products to be contaminated. I believe that it is critical for the Department of Justice to determine whether these actions rise to the level of criminal conduct,'' Leahy wrote.

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Nine Salmonella death cases in the 2008-2009 peanut butter Salmonella outbreak caused a furor in the U.S., but never resulted in criminal charges against officials from the company linked to the outbreak -- Peanut Corp. of America (PCA) of Lynchburg, Virginia.

On Friday at the American University Washington College of Law in Washington, D.C., Randy Napier of Ohio and Salmonella victims from five other families will be sharing their stories and calling for criminal prosecution of Stewart Parnell, who was PCA's chief executive leading up to the outbreak. Parnell liquidated the company in post-outbreak bankruptcy proceedings and he refused to testify before Congress about evidence gleaned by investigators showing that the company shipped products that initially tested positive for Salmonella. Federal authorities launched a criminal investigation, but two years have passed without indicments.

Nellie Napier, Randy's mother, was the last to die from the contaminated peanut butter sold by PCA under the King Nut brand. She was living in an extended care facility and peanut butter was one of her comfort foods. It wasn't until two days after her death that PCA announced its sweeping recall of all products dating back to 2007. Speaking on behalf of his siblings, Randy has repeatedly voiced outrage over the tragedy and continues to pursue a Salmonella wrongful death lawsuit.  He and his extended family are represented by national food safety law firm PritzkerOlsen, P.A. The same firm represents the family of a second fatal victim of the outbreak, as well as others who were sickened.

The press conference will be held concurrently with the Government Accountability Project (GAP) Food Integrity Campaign Conference and will begin at 12:30PM EST. Victims will speak for approximately five minutes each and be open for questions following their statements.

Besides causing nine Salmonella deaths, the PCA peanut product outbreak sickened more than 714 people in more than 40 states. PritzkerOlsen was one of just three law firms representing victimsof the outbreak  that were central to gaining a court-approved settlement that distributed $12 million of PCA insurance money to victims.

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A $12 million Salmonella lawsuit settlement for victims of the massive peanut product outbreak that sickened more than 700 people and killed nine has been approved by a federal judge in Lynchburg, Virginia.

PritzkerOlsen, P.A., represented the families of more people killed in the Peanut Corporation of America (PCA) outbreak than any other law firm in the United States.The money provided by the bankrupt company's insurer, Hartford Casualty Insurance Co., will be distributed based on the extent of victims' illnesses. Additional settlement funds are being paid by Kellogg Co., which unknowingly used contaminated peanut butter supplied by PCA in some of its products.

The ruling from U.S. District Judge Norman Moon will pay more than 120 wrongful death and personal injury claims related to the outbreak, which occurred in late 2008 and 2009.

Fred Pritzker, founder and president of PritzkerOlsen, represented the families of three women who died. Two of the victims were from Minnesota and the third was from Ohio. Members of all three families went on to speak out passionately on the national stage for change in America's food safety system.

As part of PritzkerOlsen's investigation into the PCA Salmonella peanut outbreak, Pritzker traveled to the Blakely, Georgia,  PCA plant implicated in the outbreak and personally inspected it. What he found was appalling: filthy equipment, vermin and gaps in walls and the ceiling that allowed in any number of rodents, insects and other disease carrying animals.

Pritzker has said he sees similarities between the PCA outbreak and the ongoing Salmonella egg investigation of two Iowa egg producers -- Wright County Egg and Hillandale Farms. Inspectors from the Food and Drug Administration have found egregious food safety violations at both establishments. Federal authorities have associated more than 1,400 illnesses in multiple states with contaminated eggs from the companies.

In the Salmonella Enteritidis egg outbreak, PritzkerOlsen already has filed one egg lawsuit and represents a growing number of other victims. The firm is continuing to accept cases at 1-888-377-8900 (TOLL FREE) or contact an egg recall lawyer at the firm by completing the contact form on the side of this Web page.

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It has been more than one year since Nellie Napier was taken from her loving family in Ohio by a severe Salmonella infection she contracted from contaminated peanut butter.

Nellie, who had just recently celebrated her 80th birthday, was one of nine people who died in the Salmonella Typhimurium outbreak caused by unsafe conditions and practices at the Georgia plant of Peanut Corporation of America.

Law firm Pritzker Olsen represents her family and the families of two other women who died in the outbreak. More than 700 people across the country were sickened by various products made with the contaminated nuts.

The tragedy has inspired Nellie's family, among others, to work tirelessly for safer food. They have made many lobbying trips to Washington, D.C. and conducted countless media interviews. Inside the Napier family this week there is hope Congress could vote affirmatively before Mother's Day on food safety legislation they have been pushing for.

In Nellie's memory, her children and grandchildren have established a fund to benefit S.T.O.P., Safe Tables Our Priority. S.T.O.P is a great organization that works to prevent illness from food and fights to make sure no one has to be afraid to eat.

Please visit the Napier family's Web page created in Nellie's memory. As her family says: "We don’t want anyone else to have to suffer the way she did.''

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The Georgia House has passed a tough food safety law that now goes to the Senate for approval of measures that include criminal sanctions for companies that blatantly disregard human health.

The legislation stems from the Peanut Corp. of America Salmonella outbreak that killed nine people and injured more than 700 others in late 2008 and early 2009. The company, which quickly went bankrupt after it was linked to the outbreak, operated its main plant in Blakely, Georgia.

According to the Atlanta Journal Constitution, the new bill requires food processing plants to have a written food safety plan, and it subjects those that don’t comply to a $5,000 fine and possible criminal sanctions for subsequent violations.

Other provisions make it a misdemeanor not to report positive test results for problems and a felony to knowingly introduce into a finished food or food ingredients at a plant a tainted substance. Violators could face up to 20 years in prison and a $20,000 fine.

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Peanut butter crackers containing Salmonella are still making people sick and the outbreak caused by Peanut Corp. of America (PCA) is expected to continue for the next several months.

That's what the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is saying this week in its latest written update on the Salmonella Typhimurium outbreak that has sickened 714 people in 46 states. The CDC also said once again that nine deaths are believed to have been caused by contaminanted peanut products made with nuts supplied by PCA, which is now being liquidated in Chapter 7 of U.S. Bankruptcy Court.

National food safety law firm Pritzker Olsen represents the families of three of those who died and firm founder and president Fred Pritzker last week toured PCA's dumpy processing plant in Blakely, Georgia, as part of a wrongful death lawsuit  he has filed against the company.

"The numbers of new cases have declined substantially since the peak in December, but illnesses are still being reported among people who ate the recalled brands of peanut butter crackers after the recall,'' The CDC said "The outbreak is expected to continue at a low level for the next several months since consumers unaware that they have recalled products in their home continue to consume these products. Many of the products have a long shelf-life.''

PCA's Salmonella Typhimurium outbreak was ingredient driven -- meaning PCA was a supplier of peanuts to many different food plants around the country. The CDC says at least 2,833 different products have been made with potentially contaminated PCA peanuts.The FDA keeps an online index of the product recalls.

Kellogg Co. was among the very first companies to issue a recall, saying its Keebler and Austin brand peanut butter crackers were made from nuts processed by PCA.

If you or someone you know has been sickened with a serious case of Salmonella, please call our law firm at 1-888-377-8900 or receive a free online case consultation.

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The State of Texas has leveled a $14.6 million fine against the peanut processing plant in Plainview owned by Peanut Corp. of America -- the company blamed for a national Salmonella outbreak associated with nine deaths and 700 illnesses.

Virginia-based Peanut Corp. is in bankruptcy and is facing a Salmonella wrongful death lawsuit filed by PritzkerOlsen, P.A., a national food safety law firm that represents the families of three women who died in the outbreak.

The Peanut Corp. processing plant most closely associated with the outbreak is located in Georgia, but Texas officials investigated the plant in Plainview before it closed Feb. 9. They found unsanitary conditions, product contamination, illnesses linked to the plant's peanuts and operating without a food manufacturer's license.

The notice of violation and fine was sent by the Texas Department of State Health Services.

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By FRED PRITZKER

The whole point of a food recall is to prevent additional foodborne illness after producers and their adulterated products are identified. That’s why it’s so important for food companies, food distributors, food retailers and federal, state and local authorities to promptly and effectively remove from the marketplace any food known or reasonably certain to cause illness or death.

That’s also why there should be a special place in food safety hell for those companies that knew or should have known a food product was dangerous but continued to sell it anyway. 

The ongoing Salmonella outbreak involving Peanut Corporation of America (PCA) is a case in point. It appears from the company’s emails that its officers and employees knowingly shipped adulterated product. If so, the company’s liquidation and the criminal investigation of its principals are both necessary and fair.

But what about the downstream retailers of food products containing adulterated PCA ingredients? Aren’t they just as culpable if they fail to remove contaminated product from their shelves after they knew or should have known of the recall?

This is not an idle musing. Long after the PCA recall was announced and long after the list of adulterated products was known and accessible on a variety of web sites, retailers big and tiny continued to sell these poisonous snacks. I know because I looked.

Many of the recalled products were snack foods with long shelf lives and wide distribution. Many of the retailers who sell them are small outlets with small product stocks and unsophisticated (if any) recall procedures. For many such retailers, there is little economic justification for removing dangerous products and even less risk of public approbation for failing to do so – little consolation for the victims who continue to get sick long after the products should have been removed.

Perversely, the legal system in many states promotes such behavior. So called “pass through statutes” are intended to insulate downstream retailers from lawsuit liability if the upstream producer or manufacturer of the dangerous product is identifiable and solvent. In such cases, the retailer is automatically dismissed from litigation and bears no financial responsibility (dismissals can be avoided if the downstream retailer modified the product or otherwise actively participated in making the product defective).

So what should be done? From the standpoint of efficacy and efficiency, better product traceback and notification systems have to be designed and implemented. However, I have no illusions that any such improvements are really going to rid long lived snacks from the shelves of retailers disinclined to care all that much. What will incentivize such retailers is the threat of criminal sanctions and financial responsibility.

First, create a tight and focused criminal law that makes it a crime to sell a food product that a retailer knows or should know has been recalled.  We do it for sales of liquor and cigarettes to minors; there is no reason not to do it for dangerous food products.  If criminalizing the behavior is too extreme, create economic penalties by allowing consumers to prove such illegal sales and awarding them attorney fees if they’re successful. Again, there is precedent for such measures in consumer protection statutes on the books in virtually every state.

To promote food safety, everyone up and down the stream of commerce has to act and bear responsibility and should be held accountable for failing to do so.

Fred Pritzker is founder and president of national food safety law firm PritzkerOlsen. He currently is representing victims of the nationwide peanut butter Salmonella outbreak, including the families of three women who died with Salmonella infections. With 30 years of experience and a national reputation for excellence, Mr. Pritzker has been quoted by CNN, The Associated Press, The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, CBS News and Fox News. His practice is featured in Minnesota Lawyer and his firm has won numerous million- and multi-million-dollar settlements and verdicts. To contact the firm, call 1-888-377-8900 (toll free) or complete a free case consultation form. 

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A state health department has taken a firm stand against Peanut Corporation of America (pay attention FDA, and you might learn something). From a press release issued today by the Texas Department of State Health Services:

The Texas Department of State Health Services today ordered Peanut Corporation of America to recall all products ever shipped from its Plainview plant. The order was issued after dead rodents, rodent excrement and bird feathers were discovered yesterday in a crawl space above a production area during an in-depth DSHS inspection.

The inspection also found that the plant’s air handling system was not completely sealed and was pulling debris from the infested crawl space into production areas of the plant resulting in the adulteration of exposed food products.

DSHS also ordered the plant, which began operations in March 2005, to stop producing and distributing food products.  Though plant officials voluntarily stopped operations Monday night, the DSHS order prohibits the plant from reopening without DSHS approval.

State law allows DSHS to issue such orders when conditions exist that pose “... an immediate and serious threat to human life or health.”

Laboratory tests are being done on food and environmental samples from the plant, but DSHS officials said today’s orders are not contingent on finding Salmonella or other illness-causing organisms.

The orders were signed by DSHS Commissioner David Lakey, M.D.

Our only line of defense against companies like Peanut Corporation of America seems to be state departments of health.  The FDA has consistently put profits ahead of food safety.

We welcome your comments.  Do you think that the FDA is protecting your family from dangerous food products?

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I just reviewed the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) inspection records for the Peanut Corporation of America Blakely, Georgia plant implicated in the national Salmonella outbreak. In ten separate observations, the FDA inspectors noted a series of shocking sanitation violations including:

1. Shipping product after it tested positive for at two separate Salmonella subtypes
2. Failure to clean and sanitize the peanut paste production line after Salmonella was isolated from the product produced on that line
3. Failure to confirm the effectiveness of the heating process designed to kill pathogenic bacteria (including Salmonella) during the production process (the so-called “kill step)
4. Failure to safety store finished product (product that had already been subject to the kill step was stored in close proximity to raw product) and failure to properly clean storage areas)
5. Failure to properly construct and maintain the plant’s roof (resulting in huge gaps that allow rainwater to seep into the plant and onto production areas)
6. Failure to use production equipment capable of being properly cleaned
7. Failure to use a negative pressure ventilation system (negative room pressure would direct air flow away from the finished product areas) and failure to segregate raw and finished product
8. Failure to have properly designated hand cleaning sinks
9. Failure to properly clean utensils and food production equipment
10. Failure to prevent insect and pest contamination

By any measure of safety and sanitation, these findings show a callous disregard for consumer health and disease prevention. Any one of these ten findings could account for the product contamination that has sickened over five hundred people and killed at least seven.

Worse, these violations are not isolated in time. They appear to have existed for months if not years. And that raises an equally disturbing issue: where were the inspectors before the outbreak occurred? Why weren’t test results reported to state officials? Why were these conditions ignored for such a long period of time?

The answer is simple, but shocking: there is no uniform system of inspection and testing that applies to plants like this one. There are also insufficient funds allocated for funding existing inspection and testing programs. This has to change. The United States Congress has to pass and the President has to sign legislation that prevents this gross violation of sanitation from ever happening again.

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