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And I said, are you okay? And his eyes started rolling back in his head. And he just started going to lay back down. And I went over and started patting his face. I'm like, Chuck, what's wrong? You know, what's wrong? You have to talk to me. What's wrong? You know, talk to me now or I'm going to call the ambulance. And he couldn't talk or anything. So that's when I called 911. Charles Palmer was found unresponsive in his Colorado Springs home by his wife Tammy on August 31, 2011.
The 70-year-old retired Marine sergeant had been sick in bed for a few days and his condition had worsened. Charles' blood pressure was high, he wasn't responding, and he had a low-grade fever. Tammy Palmer called for an ambulance who rushed Charles to the hospital. His eyes were open, medical staff noted, but Chuck had lost most of his motor functions and all awareness of space and time.
Tests revealed that Charles Palmer was suffering from a severe infection. The doctor that treated him wondered if Chuck's illness was related to the recent outbreak of Listeriosis. Additional tests confirmed that it was. Listeriosis is a foodborne illness caused by the bacterium Listeria monocytogenes. Systems of the infection include fever, vomiting, body aches, and confusion.
More serious conditions can arise including sepsis, a potentially fatal blood infection, and meningitis, where the membrane surrounding the brain becomes inflamed. The fatality rate is high, and almost a quarter of the people diagnosed with Listeriosis die from complications. The elderly and other immunocompromised persons are most affected. It can be passed to children through birth and cause pregnant women to miscarry.
But what makes the Listeria bacteria unique and far more deadly than its foodborne counterparts like Salmonella and E. coli is that it can take weeks, sometimes months, for symptoms to manifest. And worst of all, the bacteria thrive in cool, dark places. Listeria can survive in the soil, it lurks in the water, and it can be found in the contents of your favorite foods. Unpasteurized cheese, hot dogs, raw milk,
Sounds delicious, but Charles Palmer had consumed none of those things. Note the source of Charles' listeriosis was traced back to a cantaloupe purchased from a Walmart a few weeks earlier. Tammy Palmer said her husband was having a slice or two here and there over the course of two days. At the time, cantaloupes were a previously unheard of vehicle for which listeria could roam. Unfortunately, that was no longer the case.
It's a phrase we'd hope never to hear, killer cantaloupe. Federal health officials are searching for the cause of the listeria outbreak in cantaloupe that has killed four people already. Twenty-two people have been sickened in seven states. Take a look. Colorado, Indiana, Nebraska, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Texas, and West Virginia. They're not sure how the cantaloupes were contaminated. The outbreak has been traced, though, to a single Colorado farm.
Eric and Ryan Jensen never meant to hurt anybody. The brothers were fourth-generation farmers. The Jensen Farms' rocky Ford cantaloupes were the pride and economic backbone of their town. The brothers Jensen were devastated to learn that the Listeria outbreak had been traced back to their livelihood. Our first priority is the public's health and safety, a statement read. We're still in shock. We're completely focused on our recall efforts right now.
Jensen Farms stopped production voluntarily on September 10, 2011. The brothers issued a recall for their entire harvest crop of more than 300,000 cantaloupes that had already been distributed. It really comes... It's really personal to us. It's...
You don't know what to trust, what to buy, Tammy Palmer told ABC News. She said of her husband Charles, who had been in the hospital for weeks,
Retired Marine Sergeant Charles Palmer ultimately survived his bout with listeriosis, but he was never really the same. He had lost more than a third of his body weight by the time he was released on the 35th day. Charles said his reflection in the mirror resembled a prisoner of war. The cantaloupe Palmer ate came from this Colorado farm, where more than 300,000 cases of cantaloupes have been voluntarily recalled in 17 states this week because of potential listeria contamination.
22 people in seven states have been sickened by the Jensen Farm melon. The numbers were compounding, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control. Beginning on July 29th, there had been more than 84 confirmed cases of listeriosis linked to the Jensen Farm's cantaloupes in almost 20 different states. 13 people had died.
By mid-October, the Listeria outbreak was approaching record-breaking numbers. The FDA released its report today saying that unsanitary conditions at Jensen Farms packing shed appear to be responsible. That outbreak so far is responsible for 25 deaths, including six in Colorado and more than 120 illnesses in 26 states. That outbreak was traced to cantaloupes grown at Jensen Farms near Holly and now the farm's packing facility in Granada.
An investigation of the Jensen Farms packing facility conducted by the Food and Drug Administration found four different strains of Listeria. The FDA reported that the bacteria was present in water pooled on the plant's floor and on the corroded equipment the Jensen brothers had recently purchased used from a potato farm. Well, we primarily found it's on product that was in the packing facility as well as on the washing and drying equipment that was used.
The FDA also reported the lack of a pre-cooling step in the packing process before the cantaloupes were placed into cold storage. Such oversight could produce condensation, which can contribute to the bacteria's growth. This was all news to Eric and Ryan Jensen. Primus Labs had just given their facilities a stellar safety rating just weeks before the outbreak occurred.
At the end of 2011, the FDA reported that the Listeria outbreak caused the deaths of 33 people and the illness of about 150 more. It was the deadliest recorded U.S. outbreak of foodborne illness since the 1985 outbreak of Listeria-tainted Mexican cheese in Southern California. Somebody asked me once if I thought they were bad people.
And I couldn't answer the question at that time. I personally don't think the Jensen's are bad people. I think they were led astray in their heart. I think they know they've done something wrong. Jensen Farms went bankrupt. The brothers sued the food safety auditor and promised to donate any proceeds to the victims who were suing Jensen Farms. Charles and Tammy Palmer brought the first lawsuit. The couple sought to recoup at least a quarter of a million dollars in medical expenses.
Walmart was also named in the suit, but the retail giant settled out of court for an undisclosed amount. Charles Palmer died from rectal cancer before the case's resolution, but the legal ramifications for the Jensen brothers did not end there. Two years later, in September 2013, Eric and Ryan, now 37 and 33 years old respectively, were charged with six counts of adulteration of a food and aiding and abetting. Their lawyer told the Denver Post, quote,
The charges against Eric and Ryan do not imply that they knew or even should have known that the cantaloupes had been contaminated. As they were from the first day of this tragedy, the Jensen's remain shocked, saddened, and in prayerful remembrance of the victims and their families.
The brothers who owned the Colorado cantaloupe farm behind a deadly listeria outbreak were sentenced today. Eric and Ryan Jensen pleaded guilty last year to six federal counts and under a plea deal they were sentenced to five years probation and six months of home detention. Though the charges were misdemeanors, the Jensen Farms case was significant because it was one of the few times a food producer faced criminal charges.
Criminal prosecutions are rare in the industry because it is difficult to prove criminal intent most of the time. Most of the time. Sanitation issues at a peanut processing company lead to one of the most extensive food recalls in American history on this episode of Swindled.
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In late 2008, the Minnesota Department of Health noticed an elevated number of salmonella cases. My state has one of the best surveillance systems in the country, and after comprehensive investigations, the Minnesota scientists identified the King Nut brand of peanut butter as the culprit, produced by the Peanut Corporation of America, or PCA.
The Peanut Corporation of America was founded in Gorman, Texas in 1976. Back then it was known as Parnell's Peanuts. The company was named after its owner, Hugh Parnell, an ice cream vending machine salesman who had stumbled upon a new niche.
While restocking a machine with Nutty Buddy ice cream cones, Hugh noticed that the peanuts and the ingredients were sourced from some northern state. He remembered a few of his ice cream clients had complained that they couldn't buy peanuts in bulk in the South. "I bought a chopping machine and a few bags of peanuts and went to work," Parnell told the Lynchburg Virginia News in advance in 1983. By then, Parnell's peanuts had annual sales of more than $10 million.
Ten years later, Parnell and his three sons who helped operate the company had tripled the revenue. When Hugh Parnell sold Parnell's Peanuts and retired in 1994, the company had plants in Texas, Georgia, and Virginia and employed almost 100 people. The Parnells created a $30 million business with nothing more than hard work and a good idea, that ever fleeting American dream.
When the old man retired, the three Parnell sons weren't so keen on letting it just slip away. The brothers agreed to stay on as consultants under the company's new owners, at least until a new opportunity presented itself, which it did in 2000.
48-year-old Stuart Parnell, Hugh's oldest son, in a private sale, was able to buy back the company his father started. Stuart merged what was now called the Peanut Corporation of America with a struggling peanut processing plant in Blakely, Georgia, owned by a different businessman.
The new venture proved lucrative. PCA blanched, roasted, granulated, salted, and packaged peanuts and peanut butter for clients large and small all over the country. Kellogg's, Sara Lee, Little Debbie, some of the most popular snack food products on store shelves were manufactured with ingredients from Peanut Corporation of America because the Peanut Corporation of America's ingredients were fast, cheap, plentiful, and versatile.
fit for birdseed, dog treats, and dollar store peanut butter alike. The peanut meal and peanut paste were also sold in bulk to the institutional food market. You know, schools, prisons, nursing homes, places whose residents have no input on what they are fed.
The United States government was a PCA customer too. The National Skull Launch Program, FEMA meals for disaster victims, and food for the military all featured the company's products in some form or fashion. It has been estimated that the Peanut Corporation of America was manufacturing 2.5% of all processed peanuts in the U.S. at the time.
As a result, Stuart Parnell, the company's president, was appointed to sit on the U.S. Department of Agriculture's peanut standards board. Who better to advise on peanut quality than a major player like him?
However, behind the scenes, the Peanut Corporation of America was anything but major. Stewart had adopted his father's bare-bones approach to infrastructure and labor. The company was headquartered in a converted garage behind Stewart's upscale home in Lynchburg. The banner was hanging outside with a picture of a squirrel that read, quote, Welcome to the Nuthouse.
It didn't make sense to maintain some fancy office space because Parnell was always traveling between his Virginia and Georgia plants anyway. And in 2005, PCA opened a new plant in Plainville, Texas near Lubbock. Stuart Parnell's hand-on managerial approach ensured that he was never home.
But at least all the hard work was paying off. By the end of 2005, Peanut Corporation of America's Blakely, Georgia plant alone was processing 2.5 million pounds of peanuts per month. By 2007, PCA was nearing a return to those Hugh Parnell glory days. The company had 90 employees and was earning more than $25 million in annual revenue. Infinite growth was in full view. But then...
Naturally, we had suspected some kind of food poisoning, and so it was. Look here. This is what we found. These are salmonella organisms of the species Typhimurium, which were isolated from a patient's stool specimen. From the lapse of time between our patient's last meal and the outbreak of illness, it was pretty evident that the evening meals were responsible for the presence of the salmonella organisms in the stool specimen.
Shirley Mae Allmer was tougher than nails. A year after beating lung cancer, she suffered a seizure. Doctors found a brain tumor. Shirley beat that too. After months of rehab to regain the use of her limbs and speech, in October 2008, Shirley Allmer was released back home to her family in Perham, Minnesota. Unfortunately, the 72-year-old was readmitted into a short-term care facility in Brainerd around Thanksgiving after developing a urinary tract infection.
Shirley Allmer was supposed to be home by Christmas, but she kept getting worse. The UTI was followed by stomach cramping and diarrhea. There was nothing the medical staff could do. This is Shirley's son, Jeff Allmer. She began to complain of stomach cramping and had diarrhea. There was a downward spiral from that point on. Our family was absolutely stunned to learn on the day before her scheduled release that doctors were giving her hours to live.
It was very unexpected and equally hard to fathom how she could have gotten to this point. We were devastated as we ended up saying our tearful goodbyes and watching her last breaths on that Sunday.
It was just after the new year that my sister Ginger was informed by the Minnesota Department of Health about the positive test for salmonella. Salmonella, usually referred to as food poisoning when calling out of work, is America's most common foodborne illness. It's typically found in contaminated raw meat, poultry, milk, and eggs. Those that ingest the bacteria may experience diarrhea, fever, abdominal cramps, and vomiting.
The symptoms usually last four to seven days. Most people recover without treatment. However, severe infections can occur in those most susceptible, the very young, the elderly, and the frail. Unfortunately, Shirley Mae Allmer was two of the three.
She died a few days before Christmas in 2008. Shirley was the first confirmed death. More than a month later, Nellie Napier in Ohio was the last. She just celebrated her 80th birthday. Health officials in Minnesota noticed that there had been several salmonella deaths in the state around the same time.
Clifford Touzanant also died at an assisted living facility in Brainerd. So did 87-year-old Doris Flackard. But the outbreak was far from contained. Salmonella had killed Pete Hullett and Betty Shalander in North Carolina. There was also a report that a dog in Oregon was sick too. By New Year's Day 2009, at least five people had died and hundreds more were sickened by Salmonella.
Days later, health officials identified the source of the outbreak. We did a case control study talking to ill people and well people in many states in order to find out what was different. What had the people who were sick eaten that the well people had not eaten? And the answer that came back from that study was the same as the suspicion in Minnesota. It was peanut butter. Support for Swindled comes from Simply Safe.
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It's another salmonella warning from the government, and this time, peanut butter is the suspected culprit. Americans are warned to avoid eating cookies, cakes, ice cream, and anything else that might contain peanut butter until more is known. The FDA says most peanut butter sold in supermarkets appears to be safe. The outbreak has sickened more than 470 people nationwide. Six deaths are blamed on the outbreak.
Officials are focusing on peanut products produced by this Georgia plant, owned by Peanut Corporation of America, as a possible source of the deadly strain.
On January 4th, 2009, through a combination of epidemiological analysis and laboratory testing, the US Centers for Disease Control, the Minnesota Department of Health, and the Connecticut Department of Health simultaneously traced the outbreak strain of salmonella back to a brand of peanut butter manufactured by the Peanut Corporation of America called King Nut. The bacteria was found in jars of King Nut in some of the affected nursing homes.
Health officials also found salmonella in Austin and Keebler brand prepackaged peanut butter crackers. You know the ones, the radioactive orange three-packs that are provided in meetings or passed out at events by people who obviously don't care about you. The Peanut Corporation of America supplied the peanut butter paste that held those abominations together.
PCA issued an immediate recall of some of its products, but released a statement categorically denying the allegations. It was not the first time somebody had something to say about the Peanut Corporation of America. Those in the industry were familiar with the sanitation and food quality concerns that followed that company around. The Washington Post spoke to a buyer for a snack food company that had inspected PCA's facilities three separate times in the mid-80s.
David Brooks described the facilities as just filthy. Quote, Dust was all over the beams, the braces of the building, the roofs leaked, the windows would be open, and birds would fly through the building. It was just a time bomb waiting to go off, and everybody in the peanut industry in Georgia, Virginia, and Texas, they all knew, yet no one had intervened.
In the early 90s, Peanut Corporation of America was sued by two candy companies over lost inventory for providing products that exceeded the Food and Drug Administration's tolerance for aflatoxin, a byproduct of mold. Then in 2001, the FDA found products at PCA's Blakely, Georgia plant that had been potentially exposed to insecticides. Company officials had used a fogger in the processing areas and never followed through with a thorough clean.
FDA inspectors also discovered gaps in doors and holes in walls that served as easy access for rodents, and there were dead bugs and mouse droppings on the floor near the food.
According to Virginia State inspection records, Peanut Corp's plant in Suffolk had similar issues. The same was true of PCA's plant in Plainview, Texas. Nestle even refused to buy from PCA after conducting an on-site audit of the Texas plant in 2006. That's right, Nestle. Stuart Parnell was just as surprised as you.
In response, later that year, Parnell hired an assistant plant manager at the Plainview plant named Kenneth Kendrick. Kendrick observed numerous problems at the facility as soon as he stepped foot through the door, most notably the rodent infestations and the leaky ceiling.
When it rained, all the bird feces that peppered the roof would wash into the building. Stuart Parnell ignored Kendrick's observations. So the plant manager sent anonymous emails and letters detailing his concerns to the Texas Department of Health and some of PCA's customers. He never received a single response. "I knew it was a train wreck and something unethical and bad was about to happen," Kendrick said. He quit working for PCA after only a few months on the job.
But a little more than two years later, following the Salmonella outbreak, in January 2009, the Food and Drug Administration conducted a two-week inspection of Peanut Corp's plant in Georgia. The agency confirmed all of the rumored sanitation issues. There was mold, dead insects, dirty equipment, water leaks, and large holes in the roof. Naturally, these findings led to questions.
Investigators asked Samuel Leitze, PCA's Blakely, Georgia plant manager, if the company's products had tested positive for salmonella at any time in the past. Leitze hesitated to answer before admitting to one. But it was a false positive, he assured. Finally, after five days of repeated requests for information, Samuel Leitze changed his story. He divulged that there in fact had been three positive tests in recent years. It was a blessing in disguise.
Light sees light allowed the FDA to perform a rare order to legally demand two full years of production, shipping, and testing records that were usually punctually and voluntarily handed over by those being investigated. But after receiving the documents, it became clear as to what the Peanut Corporation of America was trying to hide. According to PCA's own internal testing records, between 2007 and 2008, there had been 12 positive tests for salmonella,
But instead of destroying the product and deep cleaning the facility like most reasonable food processing companies would do, the Peanut Corporation of America simply retested the product using a different lab until a negative test was returned. The product would then be shipped to customers without disclosing the initial positive test. And infamously, salmonella can live within pockets of substances such as peanut butter. Bacteria are usually not equally distributed.
Part of a batch can be contaminated while another part tests clean. It is not uncommon for one product to return varying results. Peanut Corporation of America claimed that the first tests were merely presumptive and not definitive proof of contamination, but a clean second test was no excuse.
Further investigation by the FDA revealed that the situation was even more disturbing. A simple comparison of production, testing, and shipping dates revealed that sometimes PCA did not even bother to wait for the second test before shipping. The company knew about possible salmonella contaminations and decided to distribute the product anyway. In other instances, the peanuts were not tested at all.
There's more damaging evidence against the Georgia peanut plant at the heart of the salmonella outbreak probe. The FDA has previously said the Peanut Corporation of America shipped products after waiting for a second test to clear peanut butter and peanuts that initially tested positive for salmonella. Now the government claims the company shipped products even after the initial test showed they tested positive for the bacteria.
The investigation also revealed, thanks to Kenneth Kendrick's relentless whistleblowing, that the PCA plant in Plainview, Texas was completely unknown to federal and state regulators. Peanut Corporation of America had never bothered to register the facility or obtain a food manufacturer's license, which meant that in the plant's four years of operation, it had never once been inspected by health officials.
However, in 2005, PCA did apply and received approval from the Texas Department of Agriculture to label its products certified organic. Rats, roaches, and all. Last month, federal investigators identified Peanut Corporation's Georgia processing plant as the source of the salmonella outbreak. That outbreak has sickened some 600 people and may have contributed to nine deaths.
When the FDA's investigation concluded in late January 2009, former Peanut Corporation of America employees came forward with their own stories. A Texas worker described the plant's conditions to the New York Times as disgusting. Others echoed concerns about water leaks and rodents. A worker at the Georgia plant even revealed the secret recipe. A rat was dry roasted in the peanuts.
The day after the FDA published its findings, Peanut Corporation of America agreed to expand its recall to include every peanut product produced at the Blakely, Georgia plant in the past two years. At least 431 peanut butter containing products were recalled by 54 companies that were using ingredients produced by PCA. It wasn't an easy decision to make. Stuart Parnell reportedly begged officials to let him ship what was already packaged on the factory floor.
No thanks. Instead, the federal government invited Stuart Parnell and PCA Georgia plant manager Samuel Leitze to explain themselves at a House Energy and Commerce subcommittee on February 10, 2009.
U.S. Representative from California, Henry Waxman, by sharing incriminating emails the FDA had obtained. Greed was a common theme.
For example, in one email, Parnell responded to test results taking longer than expected by instructing his employees to quote, "Shit, just ship it. I cannot afford to lose another customer." In another, Parnell ordered his plant manager to "turn them loose," even after the products he was referring to had initially tested positive for salmonella.
"These lab tests are fucking breaking me," the CEO wrote in August 2007. And on February 4th, 2008, after he was alerted by a plant manager of almost 1,400 pounds of peanut waste sitting on a factory floor, Stuart Parnell responded in all caps, quote,
"It is money, it is money, it is money. It is goddamn money that we do not have because of how long I have allowed you, your crew, and everyone down there to let this go on. Stop the money from ever getting out of the production flow. They're covered in dust and rat crap," the manager reminded Parnell. "Clean them up and ship them," the boss replied.
The blatant disregard for the health and safety of the public contained in those emails was disturbing, to say the least. Especially for the families of the victims who attended the subcommittee meeting that day to urge federal lawmakers to reform food safety laws. Jeff Ammer, the son of Shirley Mae Ammer, was the first to speak. When I came here today, I didn't think I would
Mr. Allmer recalled his mother's plight, how she had survived cancer twice only to succumb to peanut butter. It should have never happened, and what was initially viewed as an innocent mistake by negligent company had morphed into something sinister.
Her death and the deaths of seven others could have been so easily prevented if it were not for the greed and avarice of the Peanut Corporation of America. PCA appears to be more concerned with squeezing every dollar possible at the expense of sanitary conditions and sound food manufacturing processes. While they were not expecting to kill anyone,
PCA now has the blood of eight victims on their hands, along with the shattered health of a known 600 others, and they've devastated their own community with the unemployment. Their legacy is now that of a company that did what it could get away with until their shoddy practices has led to the nation's largest recall. Their behavior is criminal in my opinion. I want to see jail time, and I want to see them serve nothing but the putrid sludge they've been troweling out.
Lou Touzanant, son of Clifford Touzanant, who also died from salmonella in a Minnesota nursing home, asked the panel to take action. We have a blind faith that when we go to a grocery store, the food there is also safe. It clearly is not. Do not let the death of my father, the seven others, and the hundreds sickened be in vain. Please do your job.
And Peter Hurley, the father of Jacob Hurley, a toddler that had been infected and survived, offered a very American metaphor. People would be in utter outrage if they heard of a police officer putting a loaded gun to someone's head, pulling the trigger, and then in the horrific aftermath say, "I was just hoping that the bullet in the chamber wouldn't fire."
The victim testimonies were heartbreaking. Everyone in attendance and everyone watching at home was touched. But unfortunately, the person who needed to hear their stories the most didn't bother to show up. I wonder if Mr. Parnell is in the audience. Is Mr. Parnell in the audience? You know, I would think that the least he could have done was be here to hear your comments and to hear about your loved ones.
like a victim impact panel, because that's really what this is today. However, Stuart Parnell and Samuel Lisey did arrive in time to testify that afternoon. I'm just going to play the whole clip because it's comical. Sit back and enjoy. After it's over, we will review what we've learned. Shall we?
And I'll begin. Mr. Parnell, I want to ask you about an email you sent to your employees at the Peanut Corporation on January 12, 2009 after public health officials found salmonella and peanut butter from your plant in Georgia. Right in front of you right there is our binder tab. It's tab number 44 if you care to look at it. In particular, I want to ask you about the following statement you made in that email.
He said, "We do not believe the salmonella came from our facility. As you probably know, we send hourly PB samples to an independent lab to test for salmonella during production of peanut butter, and we have never found any salmonella at all." Mr. Parnell, during its investigation, the FDA found on 12 separate occasions between June 2007 and September 2008, peanut products produced by PCA and tested by private labs were found to be
contaminated it with salmonella.
On six of these occasions, the FDA found that you'd already shipped the product and that you conducted no subsequent testing. So your statement that, quote, you never found any salmonella at all, end of quote, does not appear to be true. So here's my question, and I remind you on your own. Mr. Parnell, did you or any officials at the Peanut Corporation of America ever place food products into the interstate commerce that you knew to be contaminated with salmonella?
Mr. Chairman, members of the committee, on the advice of my counsel, I respectfully decline to answer your question based on the protection afforded me under the United States Constitution. Okay, Mr. Parnell, let me ask you this. In the last panel, and you heard the last panel testify, did you not? Same, Mr. Chairman and members of the committee, on the advice of my counsel, I respectfully decline to answer your question based on the protection afforded me under the United States Constitution. Okay, I just asked you if you heard the other panel.
Mr. Chairman and members of the committee, on the advice of my counsel, I respectfully decline to answer your question based on the protection afforded me under the United States Constitution. Okay, well then let me ask you this question then, Mr. Parnell. The other panel, we talked a little bit about money and some of the emails and statements attributed to you about the cost of business, how not moving product was hurting you, hurting your business.
and that actually you deal with salmonella again from the emails once a week. So the food poisoning of people, is that just a cost of doing business for your company? Mr. Chairman and members of the committee, on the advice of my counsel, I respectfully decline to answer your question based on the protection afforded me under the United States Constitution.
Mr. Walden, I believe you had a question you had alluded to earlier. Would you like to ask that question? I would, Mr. Chairman. Mr. Parnell, Mr. Leitze, let me just cut to the chase then. In this container are products that have your ingredients in them, some of which were on the recall list, some of which are probably contaminated. It seems like from what we've read, you were willing to send out that peanut base that went into these ingredients. And I just wonder...
Would either of you be willing to take the lid off and eat any of these products now, like the people on the panel ahead of you, their relatives, their loved ones did? Mr. Chairman and members of the committee, on the advice of my counsel, I respectfully decline to answer your question based on the protection afforded me under the United States Constitution. Mr. Lightsey? At this time, on advice of counsel, I exercise my rights, Fifth Amendment of the Constitution.
Mr. Parnell, is it your intent to refuse to answer all of our questions today based on your right against self-incrimination afforded to you under the Fifth Amendment of the Constitution? Yes. Mr. Lightsey, is it your intention to refuse to answer all our questions today based on the right against self-incrimination afforded to you under the Fifth Amendment of the Constitution? Yes. All right, then I have no choice but to both of you are dismissed. Nothing.
We've learned nothing. The entire subcommittee meeting was a waste of time. However, Parnell's response, or lack thereof, was understandable, since he had learned a week earlier that he was the subject of a criminal investigation. No reason to further incriminate oneself in front of the world. Besides, the emails were more than enough to reveal the rat shit and blood that was on his hands.
The day after the subcommittee meeting, a ninth person died from the salmonella outbreak for which Peanut Corporation of America was responsible. The company's reputation was ruined. The Texas facility was shut down. The recall was expanded again, one of the most extensive ever.
Every product from PCA's Texas facility was returned and destroyed, including school lunches, food bank rations, and 168,000 emergency meal kits that had been distributed in Kentucky after a once-in-a-lifetime winter storm ravaged the state. The recall did not include brand name peanut butter and peanut products. However, a poll conducted by the Harvard School of Public Health at the time showed that one in four people assumed they were
"They've tainted our entire industry," said Shelly Nutt, the perfectly named executive director of the Peanut Producers Board in Texas. "Public perception is killing us." Sales of all brands of peanut butter were down 25% in early 2009. The big guys like Jif and Peter Pan even took out advertisements in the New York Times and other major newspapers to alert consumers that their products were not affected. There were usually coupons attached as a token of trust.
But no peanut company was doing worse than the Peanut Corporation of America. In addition to the massive recall, the company had been banned from holding government contracts for at least a year. In addition, Stuart Parnell was kicked off the USDA's Peanut Standards Board. In less than four days after the CEO refused to testify publicly, the Peanut Corporation of America permanently halted operations and declared bankruptcy.
Don't worry, the Food and Drug Administration was receiving its fair share of well-deserved criticism too. But the FDA's handling of the case is also under scrutiny for missing possible red flags that might have stopped the outbreak. In mid-September last year on the U.S.-Canadian border, a shipment of chopped peanuts from PCA described as filthy, putrid, decomposing.
unfit for food and later shown to include metal fragments was sent to Canada, which rejected it. The FDA then flagged it and sent it back to Georgia. The plant eventually destroyed it, but the FDA never inspected the facility.
In the wake of the peanut butter salmonella outbreak, President Barack Obama announced his administration's intention of transforming the nation's food safety system by shifting the focus from responding to foodborne illness to preventing it. He told Matt Lauer on NBC's Today Show, quote,
Obama signed the Food Safety Modernization Act on January 4th, 2011.
The FDA, which now had the power to suspend a facility's ability to sell food and detain food that may be contaminated, called it the most sweeping reform in food safety laws in 70 years. The new law required food companies to report positive salmonella results to the FDA, after which a plant would be subject to federal inspection. A few months after the legislation was passed, the Jensen Farms cantaloupe listeria outbreak occurred.
Filthy plants are blamed for a salmonella outbreak that killed nine people two years ago. Now that peanut industry executive is back in the business. Fox News is learning Stuart Parnell, former president of the now bankrupt Peanut Corporation of America, is back at work now as a consultant to other peanut companies. A federal criminal investigation is still hanging over his head.
As time passed, the financial and epidemiological impact of the 2009 salmonella outbreak became more clear. More than 3,900 products manufactured by more than 360 companies using Peanut Corporation of America's ingredients were recalled. The outbreak was responsible for nine deaths and more than 700 reported illnesses in 46 states.
The CDC estimates, based on projections, that in reality, there were probably more than 22,000 total cases, half of them probably children, including little Jake Hurley. Nine people died. Hundreds of people were sickened, including little Jake Hurley. Jake, this happened almost two years ago. I know that's almost half a lifetime for you, but do you remember being sick? No. No? No.
In August 2010, a federal judge awarded victims and their families $12 million in settlement money to be paid out of PCA's insurance policy. For most, the money was little consolation for the ones they lost.
"In my mind, they are murderers," Jeff Allmer told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Many victims wanted to see Stuart Parnell and his cronies face criminal charges. The U.S. Department of Justice was happy to oblige. The salmonella outbreak had major ramifications on the peanut market and caused a significant impact on the public's perceptions of food safety and government regulation.
In addition to the prosecution of the Jensen brothers, the federal government needed to send another message that it was serious about cracking down on foodborne crimes. Stuart Parnell was indicted on February 15, 2013, almost four years to the day that Peanut Corporation of America shut its salmonella-infected doors.
The 61-year-old former CEO was charged with conspiracy, introduction of misbranded food into interstate commerce with intent to defraud or mislead, mail fraud, wire fraud, and obstruction of justice. Stuart Parnell's younger brother Michael, a food broker who worked on PCA's behalf, was also brought up on similar charges. They both pleaded not guilty.
PCA's Quality Assurance Manager, Mary Wilkerson, was charged with two obstruction counts. The government alleged that the 41-year-old was aware that products were produced and shipped on the same day, despite knowing that salmonella testing takes two to four days to complete. According to the indictment, Wilkerson played a major role in the cover-up. Wilkerson claimed she was innocent. She also pleaded not guilty.
The investigation also charged former PCA plant manager Samuel Leitze and operations manager Daniel Kilgore with conspiracy and fraud. Both Leitze and Kilgore pleaded guilty to multiple federal felony counts and became cooperating witnesses. They were sentenced to three years and six years in prison, respectively. The Parnell brothers and Mary Wilkerson were tried together on July 31, 2014.
The prosecution featured 45 witnesses and thousands of pages of emails, lab results, and financial records to prove that Peanut Corp's executives intentionally misled inspectors and customers by knowingly introducing contaminated product into the food chain. The defense argued that Stuart Parnell had ADHD, which affected his ability to read and understand the emails he had sent and received.
They even tried to introduce a Virginia neuropsychologist as an agreeable expert witness. But U.S. District Judge Louis Sands ruled the testimony inadmissible and wrote, "...the allegations in this case involve a complex scheme to defraud and allegations of willfulness, not errors and mistakes in processing, emails and phone calls."
The defense also tried to convince the jury that the Parnell brothers and Mary Wilkerson were just pawns in a quote, government conspiracy game. That the federal government was picking on the little guy instead of going after someone like Kellogg's. If Stuart Parnell knew that the peanut butter was dangerous, his attorney posed, why would he have a jar of this dangerous peanut butter in his own home? And then he held up a photograph of peanut butter. That was the best the defense could muster.
It was a tough gig. The documents and witness testimony was too inexcusable to overcome. It is important to note that the PCA executives were not charged with killing anybody. In fact, the death toll from the Salmonella outbreak was not even mentioned in court. So again, like the cantaloupe case before it, proving that Stuart Parnell and PCA intended to hurt people was next to impossible. This was not a story about murder. This was a story about greed.
Death was just a byproduct. From one corporate to consumer related scandal to another, Stuart Parnell, he is the top ranking exec of the Peanut Corporation of America. He was sentenced yesterday to 28 years behind bars. It is the toughest penalty ever for a corporate executive in a food poisoning outbreak. He is 61 years old. Unless he wins an appeal, he will die in prison.
Courts are now holding food company executives and even farmers responsible for dangerous outbreaks. In April, two egg company executives got three-month sentences after a 2010 salmonella outbreak. Last year, two cantaloupe farmers were sentenced to five years probation and six months home detention for a listeria outbreak in 2011.
After a seven-week trial in September 2014, Stuart Parnell and his brother were convicted of 71 criminal counts, including conspiracy and fraud. Barry Wilkerson was found guilty of one count of obstruction of justice. The guilty verdicts marked the first federal felony convictions of company executives in a food safety case.
before Parnell and company were sentenced. Nine victims testified about the terror and grief caused by tainted peanut butter produced by Peanut Corporation of America. You took my mom. Jeff Palmer was finally able to say to Stuart Parnell's face, You kicked her right off the cliff. Ten-year-old Jacob Hurley, who was just three when he was sickened from eating peanut butter crackers, was direct as usual. He told the judge, quote,
I think it's okay for him to spend the rest of his life in prison." The judge did too. Stuart Parnell was sentenced to 28 years in prison, and for the first time, the former CEO apologized publicly. "I am personally embarrassed, humiliated, and morally disgraced by what happened," he told the judge. "It's been a seven-year nightmare for me and my family. All I can do is come before you and ask for forgiveness from you and the people back here. I'm truly sorry for what happened."
This is Jeff Allmer. This kind of became a blur after about 10 or 12 of them were read guilty. All I could think about was, you know, my mom and how hard she struggled at the end of her life and the battle that she went through to beat cancer. And then this was the culmination of, you know, the cause of her death. This was, you know, the resolution to that. Stuart Parnell's co-defendant, his brother Michael Parnell, was sentenced to 20 years in prison.
Mary Wilkerson, the quality assurance manager, was sentenced to five years in prison. As of September 2021, of the PCA executives convicted, only the Parnell brothers remain behind bars. Both men have pending motions to vacate their sentence. Stewart and Michael Parnell claim they received, quote, ineffective assistance of counsel. They say their defense teams failed to seek a change of venue for the trial and failed to block corrupted jurors from serving.
Will our villains be set free, or will justice prevail as they continue to rot away in prison? Find out next time on Swindled. We have to get the expectation out to the private sector that when these kinds of things happen, it may not only cost them financially, but also with prison time. Because if not, they say it's not a question of if the next outbreak happens, but when.
Swindled is written, researched, produced, and hosted by me, a concerned citizen, with original music by Trevor Howard, a.k.a. The Former, a.k.a. King Nut. For more information about Swindled, you can visit swindledpodcast.com and follow us on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter at Swindled Podcast. Or you can send us a postcard at P.O. Box 6044, Austin, Texas 78762. But please, no packages. We do not trust you.
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