FBI raids peanut firm’s Bedford County headquarters
AP Photo/Ric Feld/file
In this Jan. 29 file photo, an Early County Sheriff’s car leaves the parking lot at the the Peanut Corporation of America processing plant in Blakely, Ga. Federal agents on Monday raided the peanut processing plant linked to the nationwide salmonella outbreak that has prompted one of the largest product recalls in U.S. history.
Published: February 10, 2009
Updated: February 10, 2009
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Peanut Recall Round-up - Your one-stop source for news from around the Web about the salmonella outbreak linked to Lynchburg-based Peanut Corporation of America.
Peanut company and its president keeping a low profile - Feb. 7, 2009
Federal agents on Monday raided the Bedford County headquarters of Peanut Corp. of America, linked to a nationwide salmonella outbreak that has prompted one of the largest product recalls in U.S. history.
The FBI executed search warrants at both the headquarters and a peanut processing plant in Blakely, Ga., according to a senior congressional aide with knowledge of the raids. The official spoke only on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak publicly on the matter.
The plant has been identified as the source of the salmonella that has sickened hundreds and killed as many as eight people. Atlanta television station WSB’s cameras captured FBI agents entering the Georgia plant and leaving with boxes and other material.
The company’s headquarters are in the back of the home of company president Stewart Parnell, tucked away near the end of Lynchburg’s Wiggington Road just over the city line in Bedford County.
The office has only a few employees. Parnell has kept a low profile in the wake of the salmonella outbreak and subsequent investigation, repeatedly denying requests for interviews. Public relations officials hired by the company last month have said little, and the company’s Web site, which once boasted of Peanut Corp.’s history and gave details about its operations, has been deleted except for one page with a few press releases.
Earlier Monday, Agent Gregory Jones in Atlanta said the FBI had joined the investigation into the outbreak. The FBI didn’t immediately return a message left seeking further comment on the raid Monday night.
The House Energy and Commerce investigations subcommittee, which also is investigating how tainted peanuts got into the food supply, has scheduled a hearing for Wednesday. The subcommittee, chaired by Rep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., has called a meeting on Tuesday to issue a subpoena for Parnell, who has indicated he will not otherwise appear at Wednesday’s hearing, the congressional source said.
Monday’s searches come three days after Food and Drug Administration investigators said Peanut Corp. knowingly shipped salmonella-laced products from its Georgia plant after tests showed the products were contaminated. Federal law forbids producing or shipping foods under conditions that could make it harmful to consumers’ health.
The Justice Department has opened a criminal investigation and more than 1,550 products have been recalled.
This is not the first time Peanut Corporation of America has been accused of shipping contaminated products. According to documents filed in Bedford County Circuit Court, the Food and Drug Administration cited PCA in 1990 for shipping peanut products containing aflatoxins, which are toxic compounds produced by a mold that can grow on food. The finding resulted in a recall and at least one lawsuit against PCA.
Reader Reactions
As to overzealous police, Stewart Parnell today avoided answering questions to congress by invoking his rights under the 5th Amendment. Earlier it was reported that the FBI had acquired emails where Parnell told plant operators to ship the tainted product.
Let it play out, sure, but it ain’t looking too good for Mr. Parnell.
i have an opinion is always does negative commenting on the police. if someone in his family died because of eating this peanut butter that was shipped out with knowledge that it was bad, i am sure that he would still be posting that we live in a police state. it’s a shame that law enforcement are investigation food products that have killed people…what kind of world do we live in when the FBI are looking for evidence before it is destroyed by a law abiding business man.
Two questions:
Why would the FDA allow the plants to operate if they were continuously found to be in such unhealthy conditions?
Why would a businessman ship contaminated products that have been found infected with a pathogen that would guarantee sickness? There’s no profit, your business will be tarnished, and old/young people can die.
In the event that someone you knew and loved had died from this outbreak, I don’t think you would find the actions of the FBI excessive.
If anything, he is guilty of criminal neglect.
“The failure to use reasonable care to avoid consequences that threaten or harm the safety of the public and that are the foreseeable outcome of acting in a particular manner.“
I will be intrigued to see how he explains that he never foresaw a potential health risk given the condition these plants have been found in.
I’m with you, bigjim. With almost 600 reported cases of salmonella and eight deaths connected to this company’s peanut products, it’s sort of a big deal.
The company has run an uninspected and unlicensed plant in Texas for years, and has apparently known of serious problems with the peanut products produced in both plants for a long time, but kept shipping them anyway.
Maybe it will turn out that they did nothing wrong (although that appears unlikely). In the meantime, though, it would be completely irresponsible for the FBI to NOT investigate them.
Enormous damage has been done by the tainted peanut products, including economic harm to companies that manufacture, distribute and sell peanut-containing products. Hundreds of people have suffered physically, and many of them will have medical and hospital bills as a result of being sick, as well as missed days of work. And if eight people have died because of the negligence of this company, the owners deserve whatever happens to them.
We do need to wait and see how all of this turns out, but to imply that investigating this company may be over-zealous is just ridiculous.
Hmmmm, let’s see, overzealous police? How many people are dead? I think the last count was eight. Let it play out, sure, but to call a reaction by police to a nationwide salmonella outbreak involving the deaths of at least eight people overzealous is a bit ridiculous.
It’s time for these people to come clean instead of hiding.
It is always a case of what did they know and when did they know it. If they were aware of it and did nothing or actually shipped product they knew was contaminated then they should be housed under the jail for a long time.
Keep in mind that a search by potentially over zealous police, does not prove guilt. Let’s see how this plays out.
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