The only way to (hopefully) deter it is to lock him up and throw away the key.

Personally, I'd be willing to give the owner the death penalty. An eye for an eye.

The only way to stop criminals, is get rid of them.

More regulations is only going to raise prices. Do you think for a second that the owner is willing to take the extra costs out of his profit? If so, you're dreaming.

Yeah, blame it on Bush. He has control like the Gods of the universe.

"Be glad you don't work in China, where they send your next of kin a bill for the bullet they put in the back of your head."

That's a silly, untrue rumor! The bullet is actually free!

ICK ...

Name Phone / Fax Email
Stewart Parnell
President
Phone 434-384-7098
Fax 434-384-9528
stewparnell@peanutcorp.com
Gloria Parnell
Corp. Office Mgr
Phone 434-384-7098
Fax 434-384-9528
gbparnell@aol.com
Grey Adams
Accounts Mgr
Phone 434-384-7098
Fax 434-384-9528
greyadams@peanutcorp.com
David Voth
Sales Director
Phone 434-384-7098
Fax 434-384-9528
davidvoth@peanutcorp.com

Blakely, Georgia Facility
Name

Phone / Fax

Email
Danny Kilgore
Manager, Blakely
Phone 229-723-3411
Fax 229-723-5130
dkilgore@peanutcorp.com
Peggie Harper
Office Mgr, Blakely
Phone 229-723-3411
Fax 229-723-5130
pharper@peanutcorp.com
Jeff McFay
QC Mgr, Blakely
Phone 229-723-3411
Fax 229-723-5130
jeffmcfay@peanutcorp.com

Suffolk, Virginia Facility
Name

Phone / Fax

Email
Ryan Williams
Manager, Suffolk
Phone 757-539-0221
Fax 757-539-3866
ryanwms@peanutcorp.com

Plainview Peanut Company
Opening late 2004
Name
Phone / Fax
Email
Jim Booher
Manager, Plainview
Phone 806-288-0300
Fax 806-288-0301
jimbooher@peanutcorp.com

More proof that the FDA is a dangerous organization - giving false hope to clueless Americans that their consumables are actually safe.

It's everywhere. Fewer cops and firefighters, fewer FDA inspectors, fewer financial regulators, fewer public health services. This is what you get doing government "on the cheap".

Time for the Corporate Death Sentence?

It put the Fear of God into the accounting industry when they administratively "executed" Arthur Anderson.

Perhaps if a couple of malfeasant companies are put down we'll get a "pour encourager les autres" effect.

Manufacturers are not allowed to retest a product until the sample passes, then discard the failing data.

Once a sample fails, numerous re-samples must be submitted to determine the validity of the initial test. The number of re-samples may be based on batch size, quantity of finished product containers, determined using a mathematical formula or some other method. There can be many factors involved.

In any case, once a sample fails a manufacturer should reference their "Out-of-Specification Procedure". This procedure should have been developed before the company ever opened its doors for business. The procedure should describe how many re-samples must be tested and list corrective action, among other things. OOS procedures can be dozens of pages long, describing in detail every action that must be taken.

Once failing data is received or a product has been determined to be contaminated, there should not be 8 department leaders in a room scratching their heads, trying to figure out what to do. Detailed procedures should have been developed by qualified individuals long in advance that describe corrective action to be taken when incidents occur.

Maybe the 2nd lab can't be held responsible (incompetence, poor standards), but if they can prove willful disregard for safety standards, then they need to be accountable too!

@cromartie:
we aim to please

Sounds more like a case of Enterprise Corruption. Start applying RICO laws, and at least we'll have the joy of making them broke.

Well said. It's clear that an all-or-nothing approach to regulation doesn't work either way. If regs are too tight that hurts businesses and if they are too loose or non-existent, that hurts consumers.

We need to find a happy medium here.

I have a sandwich in my inbox right now...I still want to eat it.

Every time some crazed Objectivist wants to scream about how regulations are going to create Ayn Rand's world, I want to point to things like this and go, THIS is Ayn Rand's world. Except that, unlike her fantasy novels, real capitalists do not strive for all that is good and provide fine products that reflect their inner nobility. Unchecked, they provide cars that explode and peanut butter that's poison.

When I got my first job out of college in 1991 (and my second), I did food micro for 5 years. I worked at one of the most reputable independent laboratories in the country (in their micro lab).

All private labs have to follow specific gov't/independent agency guidelines for what product they are testing. These may include: FDA, USDA, APHA, USP and AOAC procedures. These labs are subject to federal inspections and also state inspections/certifications at somewhat regular intervals.

It is much easier for a client to manipulate what samples are brought to testing rather than a independent laboratory fudging data. Payment to laboratories is based whatever hourly charge the company rates the job and tech doing it at. So, really there is not a lot incentive to manipulate data. Internal micro labs- yes. External- no.

It is possible that this could happen, but with testing laboratories, your reputation is all you have. A smaller, hole-in-the-wall lab maybe. But not a large multi-disciplinary laboratory.

It is truly sad that this has happened. Because an issue like could really happen by circumstances. Someone in production does not clean the CIP line properly or some combines the last of an old batch with a new batch. Unfortunately, people really can die because of this. I know I take my position at my present lab seriously, because people will die if I do my job incorrectly.

I am in public health now.

We should have a 'We Fail U Lab'. Then we would have no products on the market, because well, none pass.

Allowing food producers to voluntarily test for and enforce purity is exactly the same as hiring the fox to watch the henhouse.

They cant even make sure we don't eat food tainted with poo.

nkng fts

@Adam2010: Blame it all on the FDA. Their too small to do good.

In an ideal world, there would be an FDA advisor for every single plant animal and mineral that is being produced for human (maybe even anythings) consumption.

But in the real world, all they can do is create acts and try to enforce their rules as best they can, and hope that the possibility of being brought up on serious criminal charges is enough to deter shipping a contaminated product.

The company should be sued into bankruptcy. Which idiot decided to let companies be responsible for their own testing? Haven't they heard of conflict of interest?

The people who were involved in this at Peanut Corp. need to be brought up on murder or at least manslaughter and fraud charges. They also need to seize all personal and business assets to use to pay victims. I generally am offended by how the Chinese deal with crime but in light of the Peanut Corp case I am warming up to the idea.

Ironically after we quit eating at restaurants and cut out almost all processed food, neither of us have had a case of food poisoning or even a minor bout of GI issues.

Maybe we should be allowed to force feed the executive and employees of PCA some of the tainted peanut butter...

@papahoth:

It didn't begin with the Bush administration, but the willful neglect under their watch is damning enough.

@magic8ball: Bush legalized putting more arsenic and other pollutants into the environment, and changed the laws on the FDA's drug testing.

Take a wild guess.

The FDA under George Bush -- another example of how to wreck the government and feed at the trough.

As someone who has worked in Industrial Microbiology for over 16 years, I can tell you that the situation described here happens more often than you would think.

The main goal of any manufacturing plant is to get the product out the door, so that they can get paid by their customer. Some manufacturing plants will do whatever they can to get microbiologically failing product to market and cover their butts in the process. From my experience, some of the most common tricks dishonest manufacturers try to pull are as follows.

1) Test to Compliance - Microbiological contamination is often not evenly distributed throughout a product. That means that it is possible that if you retest a sample, test another container or another part of the batch, you may not pick up the objectionable organism. If you are testing for overall bacterial or fungal count, it is possible the count on the retest may be lower. Some companies with failing products will continue to send in samples of the same product until they get passing data. They then destroy all of the failing data and are left with a lab report showing that their product is acceptable.

2) Combining Failing Batches with Passing Batches - If a batch is failing for overall bacteria or fungal count, some companies will blend the failing product into passing product to dilute the microbiological contamination to acceptable levels. Lot numbers for the product are then altered to cover their tracks. They then destroy all of the failing data and are left with a lab report showing that their product is microbiologically acceptable.

3) They Purposely Mislabel Samples - If a product fails microbiological testing, some companies will remove the failing product from the sample package and substitute passing product. Now the sample that is sent to the lab has the failing product's lot number on it, but the sample material inside is passing product. Once the testing is complete, the company receives a lab report showing that the failing product passed testing. They then destroy all of the failing data and are left with a lab report showing that their product is acceptable.

4) They Use a Different Laboratory - All contract microbiology laboratories are not created equal. They run the gamut from a state-of-the-art building with tens of thousands of square feet of work space to a mom and pop operation operating in a two room suite in an office complex. The quality of work these laboratories perform and the reliability of data they produce can vary greatly. If a product is failing at one laboratory, some manufacturers will just send their samples to other laboratories until they get results that they like. The big question is always "Does the manufacturer want the best quality data or do they want passing data?" The truthful answer is that it depends on the customer.

5) They Use Their "Alternate" Laboratory - If I told you that there were microbiology laboratories out in the world that accepts samples, never tests them and then issues passing reports, would you believe it?

6) They Mislead Their Microbiology Laboratory - Sometimes companies will request that their microbiology laboratory change lot numbers on reports, claiming they mistakenly wrote incorrect lot numbers on the incoming sample submission sheets. The microbiology laboratory may innocently and unknowingly provide documentation that allows failing product to ship.

7) They Bully the Microbiology Laboratory - Sometimes manufacturers with failing product request that the microbiology laboratory provide them with a report indicating passing data. Sometimes they remind the laboratory of how much revenue they generate for them. They even may threaten to pull their business is the microbiology laboratory refuses to comply. Money can be a powerful motivator.

8) They Find Another Laboratory - If the microbiology laboratory a manufacturer is using refuses to cave in and help them cover their tracks, the manufacturer may just find another laboratory that will "play ball" with them.

Now my disclaimer: What I have listed above represents my opinion and experience. The vast majority of manufacturers and microbiology laboratories are honest and work hard to do the right things. However, money is a powerful motivator. With product batches that can be worth tens or even hundreds of thousands of dollars, some rouge companies will do whatever they can to prevent product loss. Some are even willing to put the health and well-being of the public at risk.

I do not mean in any way to imply that The Peanut Corporation of America engaged in any type of wrongdoing. Everyone is presumed innocent until proven guilty. I have no doubt that the FDA will determine the root cause of this situation and take any necessary corrective action.

(This is pretty similar to one from a few years ago, actually)

The only action of themselves from this could have been the death of others.

In case you don't know, the Chinese guys will only be staying their cell a really short time until they are executed.

Be glad you don't work in China, where they send your next of kin a bill for the bullet they put in the back of your head.

General Anthony Clement McAuliffe (July 2, 1898 - August 11, 1975) was the United States Army general who commanded the defending 101st Airborne troops during the Battle of Bastogne, Belgium, during the Battle of the Bulge in World War II. He is famous for his single-word reply to a German surrender ultimatum: "Nuts!"

my goodness.....why do we have such organizations?!?! they are all useless!!

I think we start paying all those bigwigs lessmoney so they can focus more on what their organizations are supposed to be doing.

soon I can see infomercials in africa "please sponsor an american, they have salmonela and other diseases which their countries many organizations failed to perform their duties examining their foods"!!!

Nuts...