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Congressional Panel Pounds on King Nut Companies

By PritzkerLaw

Members of Congress are now leveling criticism at food companies that did business with Peanut Corporation of America without running their own checks on the safety of peanut products they were buying.

The calls for wider food safety accountability in the 46-state Salmonella outbreak that has claimed nine lives and sickened more than 700 people came Thursday at a hearing in Washington, D.C., held by the House Committee on Energy and Commerce Oversight and Investigations Subcommittee.

The discussion -- spearheaded by Subcommittee Chairman Rep. Bart Stupak -- echoed what national food safety law firm PritzkerOlsen Attorneys has been saying for months. In January, PritzkerOlsen filed a Salmonella wrongful death lawsuit against Virginia-based PCA and King Nut Companies of Solon, Ohio.

The suit, filed in Hennepin County District Court on behalf of the family of Shirley Almer, alleges negligence not only by PCA, which has since closed its doors, but also King Nut, a distributor of peanut butter made at the now defunct Blakely, Georgia, plant of PCA. Almer's death from ingesting Salmonella-laced  King Nut creamy peanut butter helped health investigators figure out the cause of the outbreak, which began in September.

Among the food company executives who appeared before the subcommittee on Thursday was Martin Kanam, president and CEO of King Nut. His written testimony said PCA President Stewart Parnell informed King Nut on Jan. 7, 2009, that he had no knowledge of any Salmonella issues with his products.

But documents gathered by subcommittee investigators show otherwise. Stupak pointed to an email Parnell sent to a high-ranking King Nut executive on Jan. 7. "I'm sure it's something we did,'' Parnell wrote, referring to a news report of the Salmonella outbreak. The executive responded by saying King Nut would be issuing a massive consumer product recall due to Salmonella that originated at PCA's Georgia plant. Parnell replied: "Now my heart is really in my throat. I think I'm going to church tonight.''

 Stupak and other subcommittee members pounded King Nut, Kellogg Co. and other food manufactuers who bought peanut products from PCA without doing their own food safety due diligence on PCA's plants. PCA had gotten high marks for food safety from its own third-party audit company, but the subcommittee displayed evidence of a cozy, kept relationship with the contractor.

Said Stupak: "Placing all the blame on PCA would mean that food processors have no responsibility for ensuring the safety of their ingredients. And I simply can't agree with that."

He said companies like King Nut and Kellogg put their names on products without checking to see if they were safe to eat. Kellogg, for instance, was forced to recall millions of boxes of Keebler and Austin peanut butter snack crackers that had been made with potentially contaminated peanut paste from PCA .

"They represented to the public that these products were safe to eat. And they sold them to consumers who became ill and in some cases died,'' Stupak said.

 Federal inspectors found evidence at PCA's plants of  rodent infestation, cockroaches, mold on ceiling and walls and a leaking roof. Stupak released a file of graphic inspection photos  showing dead mice and other filth in the plants. The photos and written testimony from the hearing can be viewed online.

Perhaps the most powerful argument all day came from Stupak when he detailed how Nestle USA rejected PCA as a supplier long before the Salmonella outbreak ever happened. That's because  Nestle's own investigation of PCA facilities starting in 2002 found many of the same deficiencies that federal inspectors would find years later.

Nestle's 2002 audit found a "potential for microbiological cross contamination.'' It concluded PCA was not in compliance with housekeeping, sanitation and pest control. The audit warned: "It is critical that these deficiencies be addressed.''

Full post as published by Food Poisoning Law Blog on March 19, 2009 (boomark / email).