Peanut Corporation of America: we faked salmonella tests

[Star]

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GA. peanut plant chief: we faked salmonella tests

Aug 8th 2014 3:46PM

By Russ Bynum
ALBANY, Ga. (AP) - A Georgia peanut plant manager testified Friday that his company had been shipping contaminated nuts with fake documents showing them to be salmonella-free before the plant was identified as the source of a nationwide outbreak that killed nine Americans and sickened more than 700.

"In my mind, I wasn't intentionally hurting anyone," Sammy Lightsey told jurors at the trial of his former boss, Peanut Corporation of America owner Stewart Parnell, and two others.

Parnell and his brother, food broker Michael Parnell, are accused of shipping tainted products to customers and covering up lab tests showing they contained salmonella. Stewart Parnell and the Georgia plant's quality assurance manager, Mary Wilkerson, are also charged with obstructing justice. Experts say it's the first time corporate officers and managers have gone to trial on federal charges in a food poisoning case.

<snip>

9 dead, 700 sickened but-----but the CEO says "In my mind, I wasn't hurting anyone" - what'd he think the government regulations were in place for?

Regulations be damned, the almighty dollar rules - as long as inspectors are underfunded, Corporations are beholden to no one.
The article doesn't give any information about the plant workers but I wonder, did Peanut Corporation of America's lawless policies kill or sicken any Peanut Corporation of America employees before they were caught cheating?

Corporations can not be trusted to self police but-----but as long as the tax cutters rule, it's the policy we're stuck with.
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[JimBowie1958]

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GA. peanut plant chief: we faked salmonella tests

Aug 8th 2014 3:46PM

By Russ Bynum
ALBANY, Ga. (AP) - A Georgia peanut plant manager testified Friday that his company had been shipping contaminated nuts with fake documents showing them to be salmonella-free before the plant was identified as the source of a nationwide outbreak that killed nine Americans and sickened more than 700.

"In my mind, I wasn't intentionally hurting anyone," Sammy Lightsey told jurors at the trial of his former boss, Peanut Corporation of America owner Stewart Parnell, and two others.

Parnell and his brother, food broker Michael Parnell, are accused of shipping tainted products to customers and covering up lab tests showing they contained salmonella. Stewart Parnell and the Georgia plant's quality assurance manager, Mary Wilkerson, are also charged with obstructing justice. Experts say it's the first time corporate officers and managers have gone to trial on federal charges in a food poisoning case.

<snip>

9 dead, 700 sickened but-----but the CEO says "In my mind, I wasn't hurting anyone" - what'd he think the government regulations were in place for?

Regulations be damned, the almighty dollar rules - as long as inspectors are underfunded, Corporations are beholden to no one.
The article doesn't give any information about the plant workers but I wonder, did Peanut Corporation of America's lawless policies kill or sicken any Peanut Corporation of America employees before they were caught cheating?

Corporations can not be trusted to self police but-----but as long as the tax cutters rule, it's the policy we're stuck with.
.

These men should be prosecuted for manslaughter, and are more and more typical of todays narrow focus on profits by management.

Managers want profits and see no obligation to the larger community and this is simply one of the more extreme cases, but every time a business owner or manager hires black market labor they leave Americans unemployed, strengthen the criminal networks of smugglers and human traffickers, and they bring people into this country who have had no medical screening putting all of us at risk.

Personally, I would put these managers up against a wall and have them shot, if I could have my druthers.

 

[waltky]

possum likes Jiffy peanut butter...

Peanut, almond butter recalled for salmonella risk
Aug 19,`14 - -- Peanut and almond butters sold at Whole Foods, Trader Joe's and other grocers are being recalled because of possible salmonella contamination.

A unit of Hain Celestial Group Inc. said Tuesday that there have been reports of four illnesses that may be related to the nut butters. They were sold under the brand names Arrowhead Mills Peanut Butters, MaraNatha Almond Butters and Peanut Butters, and private label brands for Whole Foods, Trader Joe's, Kroger and Safeway. A total of 45 production lots are affected.

They were sold in Canada, the Dominican Republic, Hong Kong and the United Arab Emirates as well as the U.S. The Lake Success, New York, company said it learned of the contamination risk after routine FDA testing. The Food and Drug Administration said it did not know how many jars of nut butters were recalled. The company would not comment.

Typical symptoms of salmonella infection are nausea, vomiting, diarrhea and abdominal pain. These symptoms generally develop within one to three days of exposure to the bacterium and may last for up to a week. While anyone can become ill from exposure to salmonella, health officials say the risk of infection is particularly high for children, the elderly and those with weakened immune systems.

There have been several major salmonella outbreaks in recent years, including infected peanuts that sickened more than 700 people in 2008 and 2009 and Foster Farms chicken that is linked to a strain of salmonella that has made more than 500 people sick over the last year and a half.

AP Newswire | Stars and Stripes

 

[Missourian]

Did the regulations stop these men from introducing a tainted product into the food supply?