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Will tainted peanuts land anyone in jail? Source of Article: http://www.ajc.com/metro/content/metro/stories/2009/03/02/georgia_peanut_salmonella.html Few
food-safety investigations result in successful criminal prosecution The Monday, March 02, 2009 The
salmonella outbreak associated with Peanut Corp. of “In 15
years of litigating most of the major foodborne
illness outbreaks in the U.S., the PCA case may well be the worst food-safety
breach I have ever seen,” said Seattle food-borne illness attorney Bill Marler, who has filed multiple claims against Peanut
Corp. in the recent outbreak. •
For all the latest
developments on the peanut crisis and the salmonella outbreak,
with an updated list of recalled items, plus background on the scare, go to
the AJC's special report: ajc.com/peanuts.
But
as federal investigators move forward, they also are aware that few
food-related investigations turn into prosecutions and even fewer land anyone
in jail. In the
salmonella outbreak that began last fall, nine people are believed to be dead
from eating bad peanut products. More than 660 people have been sickened. A
federal criminal investigation of Peanut Corp. of The
probe focuses on the violation of federal food “adulteration” laws, and
doesn’t legally address the victims, said former Food and Drug Administration
investigators and federal agents familiar with the investigation and
prosecution of food-borne illness cases. “It
doesn’t matter if anybody got sick, or if anybody died,” said Benjamin
England, a former investigator with the FDA’s Office of Criminal
Investigations and a Federal
officials won’t comment on the criminal investigation springing from the
current salmonella outbreak. The FDA is working with the U.S. Department of
Justice and the FBI on the probe. In 1998,
the FDA levied a $1.5 million fine against Odwalla
Inc., a However,
in 2007, the president of Lantana, Fla.-based Atlantis Foods Inc. got 15
months after pleading guilty to a scheme to sell adulterated chicken salad
and lobster dip. “It
strikes me that they’ll use a task force approach,” said Parker. “The FDA
will bring its expertise in food, the Parker
said the investigation could be broadened to include fraud. Former
investigators said laws governing food adulteration date to the 1938 Federal
Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act. The act
defines adulterated product as food that was “prepared, packed, or held under
insanitary conditions whereby it may have become contaminated with filth, or
whereby it may have been rendered injurious to health.” The
provision offers two types of adulteraton charges —
misdemeanor and felony. Intent defines the difference. A felony charge means
the food was knowingly contaminated and put on the market anyway. A
misdemeanor conviction carries a maximum sentence of a $1,000 fine and one
year in prison. Should
the government prove that a company knew its products were contaminated and
proceeded to market them, the misdemeanor is elevated to a felony. The
maximum fine for felony adulteration is $10,000. The maximum prison sentence
is three years. States
where victims of tainted food were sickened or died can pursue charges such
as manslaughter or negligent homicide, said former federal investigators and
prosecutors. But states don’t often do that. “In a
perfect world, a state might be right in the middle of it [the investigation]
right now,” said Rande Matteson, a former federal
agent and chairman of the Department of Criminal Justice at The
speed of the investigation of the Peanut Corp. is hard to determine. “I would
be shocked if they indicted before the end of the year,” said England, noting
the complexity of the case, which will require scientific testimony, lab matches
and evidence whether Peanut Corp. accidentally or knowingly sent bad peanut
butter and other products to market, and who ultimately is responsible for
that decision. The U.S.
Senate and House held hearings on the outbreak last month amid wider calls
for tougher regulation of food safety by the FDA. But a change in
administration may slow the process, said “The
Obama administration may appoint a new Samuel
said he expected the prosecutors to pursue company owners and managers
because Peanut Corp. has filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy liquidation. “At this
point nobody really cares about the corporation being prosecuted,” he said.
“The question is individuals and then, which individuals?” |
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