Peanut King Should Serve Hard Time in Prison

[catzmeow]

Peanut Co. owner refuses to testify to Congress

WASHINGTON – The owner of a peanut company refused to testify to Congress on Wednesday amid the disclosure that he urged his workers to ship bacteria-tainted products, pleading with employees to at least "turn the raw peanuts on the floor into money."

...The House panel released e-mails obtained by its investigators showing Parnell ordered products identified with salmonella shipped and quoting his complaints that tests discovering the contaminated food were "costing us huge $$$$$$."

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, may be linked to eight deaths and has led to one of the largest recalls in history with more than 1,800 products pulled.

"Their behavior is criminal, in my opinion. I want to see jail time," said Jeffrey Almer, whose 72-year-old mother died Dec. 21 in Minnesota of salmonella poisoning after eating Peanut Corp.'s peanut butter. Almer and other relatives of victims urged lawmakers to approve mandatory product recalls and improve public notice about contaminated food.

It is time for corporate America to face real consequences for their actions. This man endangered the lives of thousands of Americans, injured 600 and killed 8, including endangering our troops in the armed forces. He should do time for his criminal behavior.

 

[Andrew2382]

this just goes to show that you should always wash your nuts

 

[jillian]

It is time for corporate America to face real consequences for their actions. This man endangered the lives of thousands of Americans, injured 600 and killed 8, including endangering our troops in the armed forces. He should do time for his criminal behavior.

The peanut butter went to the poor folks in Kentucky who had the ice storm, too. (Like they didn't have enough problems).

ATLANTA -- To maximize the reach and impact of last week’s alert, the Kentucky Division of Emergency Management (KYEM) and the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), through an arrangement with the U.S. Postal Service, will distribute more than 600,000 flyers directly to Kentucky households asking them to check emergency meals distributed since the ice storm.

FEMA Distributes Peanut Butter Information To KY Households - WOWK-TV - WOWKTV.com

 

[DiamondDave]

If he gets tried and convicted because it is all found to be true... let him rot in prison.. no doubt

 

[auditor0007]

I have to agree with you on this one Catz. This company knowingly sold contaminated food. Now people have died. I just wonder what the hell was going through their minds when they said "ship it anyway". At minimum, it's voluntary manslaughter.

 

[catzmeow]

I have to agree with you on this one Catz. This company knowingly sold contaminated food. Now people have died. I just wonder what the hell was going through their minds when they said "ship it anyway". At minimum, it's voluntary manslaughter.

I think that there is a segment of corporate America that is content to allow a certain number of Americans to die as long as their profit margin is sufficient. In those cases, hard time should be mandatory,and these should be treated as violent crimes. There should not be one standard for the wealthy, and a different standard for the poor. If a factory owner pushes for dangerous products to be shipped irrespective of consequences, he should be charged criminally.

 

[RodISHI]

Yes agreed. A jail cell for him and whoever assisted him should be promptly made available.

 

[doeton]

cool, yeah jail time after the fact.

works a lot better than regulators and inspectors prior.

great...

 

[DiamondDave]

cool, yeah jail time after the fact.

works a lot better than regulators and inspectors prior.

great...

Regulators and inspectors are not there 24/7/365 and inspecting every last piece of product

 

[driveby]

Put him in jail and his only meals are from the recalled items made in his plant......

 

[jillian]

cool, yeah jail time after the fact.

works a lot better than regulators and inspectors prior.

great...

Regulators and inspectors are not there 24/7/365 and inspecting every last piece of product

but de-funding regulatory agencies leads to exactly this type of problem.

 

[DiamondDave]

cool, yeah jail time after the fact.

works a lot better than regulators and inspectors prior.

great...

Regulators and inspectors are not there 24/7/365 and inspecting every last piece of product

but de-funding regulatory agencies leads to exactly this type of problem.

Defunding over regulated stuff does not though

I don't think there was any defunding to get regulators and inspectors out from checking for food that is deadly.. and lord know food safety standards have not been lowered

And as stated... unless there is an inspector there 24/7/365 checking every last batch of every product.. there is always a possibility of this

 

[doeton]

And as stated... unless there is an inspector there 24/7/365 checking every last batch of every product.. there is always a possibility of this

turns out the inspectors had found problems.

they just didn't have the authority to shut the plant down.

The Associated Press: Peanut company owner refuses to testify


man, this owner needs to go to jail for the rest of life.

the plant manager has some serious responsibility too.

 

[rayboyusmc]

For whatever it's worth:

FDA food inspections were cut almost in half between 2003 and 2006

FDA food inspections were cut almost in half between 2003 and 2006 : politics

In Georgia, the state Agriculture Department inspects food processing facilities on behalf of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. But the state agency —- which also promotes the sale of Georgia products —- employs just 60 “sanitarians,” as the inspectors are called, to check on 16,000 processing plants, grocery stores and food warehouses statewide.

Each sanitarian, earning an average of $36,000 a year, is expected to conduct about 530 inspections a year —- one every 3 1/2 hours, including travel time, each working day of the year.

Peanut scare exposes flaws in inspections | ajc.com

 

[Diuretic]

I hope no-one comes along and says regulations and inspections aren't required because the market will put this bastard out of business for selling contaminated food.

 

[xsited1]

I have to agree with you on this one Catz. This company knowingly sold contaminated food. Now people have died. I just wonder what the hell was going through their minds when they said "ship it anyway". At minimum, it's voluntary manslaughter.

I think that there is a segment of corporate America that is content to allow a certain number of Americans to die as long as their profit margin is sufficient. In those cases, hard time should be mandatory,and these should be treated as violent crimes. There should not be one standard for the wealthy, and a different standard for the poor. If a factory owner pushes for dangerous products to be shipped irrespective of consequences, he should be charged criminally.

That's not just corporate America. That's the world. That's the government. That's just about any institution.

I say feed the guy some of his product... daily... for the rest of his life.

 

[doeton]

I hope no-one comes along and says regulations and inspections aren't required because the market will put this bastard out of business for selling contaminated food.

paging ron paul libertarian loopies....

 

[xsited1]

I hope no-one comes along and says regulations and inspections aren't required because the market will put this bastard out of business for selling contaminated food.

Regulations and inspections aren't required because the market will put this bastard out of business for selling contaminated food!

I suppose that could work as long as there are strict laws with severe penalties if you sell contaminated food AND you've got an honest and free Press.

 

[doeton]

I hope no-one comes along and says regulations and inspections aren't required because the market will put this bastard out of business for selling contaminated food.

Regulations and inspections aren't required because the market will put this bastard out of business for selling contaminated food!

I suppose that could work as long as there are strict laws with severe penalties if you sell contaminated food AND you've got an honest and free Press.

ah, pretty sure inspectors were needed to figure out where the fucking salmonella came from in the first place.

 

[Patriot2009]

Regulators and inspectors are not there 24/7/365 and inspecting every last piece of product

but de-funding regulatory agencies leads to exactly this type of problem.

Defunding over regulated stuff does not though

I don't think there was any defunding to get regulators and inspectors out from checking for food that is deadly.. and lord know food safety standards have not been lowered

And as stated... unless there is an inspector there 24/7/365 checking every last batch of every product.. there is always a possibility of this

What gives you the spurious notion that this "stuff" is "over regulated"??? My son worked at local meat processing plant while he was going to school. They had inspectors on site 24/7. They roam the plant testing various phases of the processing and shut down entire processing lines and see that all the product on a line that fails is discarded.

Although there is always a slight chance that something willl get through. The fact is that it is far less than an operation that is inspected on a hit and miss basis where the processor gets advance notice that an inspector will arrive the following day or week.

And, don't bother to try the old story that inspections cost too much. The difference in the cost of the final product is miniscule in terms of real dollars and cents, and absolutely insignificant in terms of the cost of human lives in an outbreak of disease!!!

A so-called cost/benefit analysis should never be a consideration in such matters.