Peanut Executives Indicted After Salmonella Outbreak

After an investigation into one of the largest food related recalls in history, a federal grand jury has indicted four executives from the now-extinct Peanut Corporation of American, alleging that they knew that their products were contaminated and chose to ship them to consumers anyway, hiding information from investigators in the process. Those indicted are the company’s president, Stewart Parnell, his brother Michael, who acted as a food broker representing the company, Samuel Lightsey, operations manager at the company’s plant where the contamination was found, and Mary Wilkerson, the plant’s quality assurance manager.

The salmonella outbreak, which sickened more than 700 people across 46 different states and also may have contributed to as many as nine deaths, stemmed from Peanut Corp’s Blakely plant in Atlanta, where the four executives allegedly failed to keep the plant clear of rodents and insects that could contaminate the food production process. Once the outbreak was discovered, the company then continued to ship its tainted peanut related goods, including peanut butter, cookies, cereal, and pet treats, even fabricating quality assurance labels and misleading investigators who inspected the facility to conceal the potential danger, according to the Department of Justice.

Stuart F. Delery, head of the Department of Justice’s Civil Division said in a statement following the indictment that the department “will not hesitate to pursue any person whose criminal conduct risks the safety of American who have done nothing more than eat a peanut butter and jelly sandwich.” The Parnell brothers and Samuel Lightsey were charged with mail and wire fraud, conspiracy and introduction of adulterated and misbranded food into interstate commerce with the intent to defraud or mislead. Stewart Parnell, Lightsey, and Mary Wilkerson were charged with obstruction of justice.

William D. Marler, a food safety lawyer, said of the case that the indictments should have a “far reaching impact on the food industry”, and that “Corporate executives and directors of food safety will need to think hard about the safety of their product when it enters the stream of commerce.” Carl Tobias, a law professor at the University of Richmond added that the main issue in the case was the Peanut’s Corp’s primary emphasis on profits, rather than on public safety. “Often, something goes awry due to a mistake or some kind of negligence. In this case, the government believes that profits were put ahead of the public’s safety.”

The Department of Justice is hopeful that the outcome of the case will remind other major food producers and distributors to remain focused on consumer safety before sales figures, ensuring that their internal processes adequately protect the public from serious health threats. If health dangers do appear, appropriate steps should be taken to correct the problem completely, rather than allowing the dangerous products to be dispersed to the public, exposing them to the kinds of dangers that forced the Peanut Corporation of America to declare bankruptcy and close its doors while its executives suffered the repercussions in federal court.