The Salmonella Outbreak: The Continued Failure to Protect the Food Supply

Today, the Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations is holding a hearing examining the recent salmonella outbreak associated with peanut products manufactured by the Peanut Corporation of America. Watch the live webcast>>

Chairman Waxman, in his opening statement, explains the troubling findings by the Energy and Commerce investigation:

Today the public will hear the first results of our investigation. The documents obtained by the Subcommittee are disturbing. They seem to show a company that was more concerned with its bottom line than the safety of its customers.

Last September, for example, PCA was notified by a private lab that its products had tested positive for salmonella. This wasn't the first positive test the company received, and it wouldn't be the last.

In response, the president of the company, Stewart Parnell, sent an email complaining that positive salmonella tests were "costing us huge $$$$$ and causing obviously a huge lapse in time from the time we pick up peanuts until the time we can invoice."

Even after FDA began investigating in January and forced the company to recall some products, PCA's first concern was financial.

The e-mails from Stewart Parnell, President, Peanut Corporation of America, referenced by Chairman Waxman-

October 6, 2008 e-mail from Parnell to Sammy Lightsey, Plant Manager, Peanut Corporation of America:

This truck was shipped from om Blakely, GA facility last week to our Texas plant, you can see below what was on this truck, we do not want to use it in production unless you feel it is okay, Jan verbally gave Sammy the okay but now GA USDA is putting a hold on everything else in the plant·

Obviously we are not shipping any peanut butter products affected by the recall but desperately at least need to turn the Raw Peanuts on our floor into money..we have other raw peanuts on our floor that we would like to do the same with..

Could you give us advice on the status of this material..this is material that would be cooked/further processed by us in our Texas facility and tested afterwards as all of our products are...

January 19, 2009 e-mail from Stewart Parnell to Robert Neligan:

We need to discuss this...the time lapse, besides the cost is costing us huge $$$$$ and causing obviously a huge lapse in the time from the time we pick up peanuts until the time we can invoice...

We need to find out somehow what our competition (JIMBOS) is doing and at the very least mimic their policy...

We need to protect our self and the problem is that test absolutely give us no protection, just an indication at best....