Stewart Parnell, former CEO of Peanut Corp. of America (PCA), and his brother Michael Parnell, former vice president of sales, have filed a joint motion for a new trial following their recent convictions on charges stemming from a Salmonella outbreak traced to their peanut processing facilities. United States v. Parnell, 13-12 (M.D. Ga., motion filed October 7). In a separate motion, former quality control manager Mary Wilkerson asked the court to acquit her of obstruction-of-justice charges because, she argued, the government failed to provide “a recording, time log, video, affidavit, state or any time of record of the alleged interview” in which Wilkerson was apparently asked “if she was aware of any positives [for Salmonella] in any of the FDA Inspector’s notes.” In their motion, the Parnells claimed that jury members conducted their own research and discovered that the Salmonella outbreak had been linked to nine deaths, a fact that had been excluded…
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The U.S. Court of Federal Claims has ruled that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is not required to compensate tomato growers for a regulatory taking after incorrectly warning the public in 2008 that a Salmonella outbreak was linked to tomatoes. Dimare Fresh Inc. v. U.S., No. 13-519 (Fed. Cl., order entered September 18, 2014). The growers argued that FDA had “appropriated a benefit” through the seizure of tomatoes, but “[a] regulatory takings claim is not plausible and cannot proceed when the government action at issue has no legal effect on the plaintiff’s property interest,” the court said. “Advisory pronouncements, even those with significant financial impact on the marketplace, are not enough to effect a taking of property under the Fifth Amendment.” The growers were attributing independent consumer behavior to FDA, the court found, and the argument that consumer advisories alone constituted takings had no support in case law.
A federal court in Maryland has allowed the personal representative of the estate of a man who died in 2011 during a nationwide Listeria outbreak linked to a Colorado cantaloupe farm to sue the company responsible for auditing the cantaloupe producer’s processing facilities, finding that it owed him a duty of care. Wells Lloyd v. Frontera Produce, Ltd., No. 13-2232 (D. Md., order entered September 24, 2014). An Oklahoma court refused to allow claims against the auditor in December 2013, finding that the plaintiff, who was sickened during the Listeria outbreak, could not show that the auditor owed him a duty under Oklahoma law. Details about that ruling appear in Issue 509 of this Update. In contrast, the Maryland court found that the food safety auditor owed a duty to the decedent, because its allegedly negligent audit of the facility—finding that it complied with applicable standards of care for food processing—met…
The Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI) has filed a citizen petition with the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) seeking a declaration that four antibiotic-resistant (ABR) strains of Salmonella are adulterants under federal law. This is CSPI’s second petition on the matter and attempts to respond to data gaps identified by USDA’s Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) when it denied the consumer advocacy organization’s 2011 petition in July 2014. Details about the denial appear in Issue 532 of this Update. CSPI bolsters the first petition with additional information on ABR Salmonella outbreaks, including numbers of individuals sickened and types of antibiotics to which the infections were resistant. CSPI also emphasizes that FSIS has already been declaring these pathogens adulterants on a case-by-case basis in issuing certain recalls, but its inconsistency in this regard, in CPSI’s view, is “putting consumers at risk.” While CSPI argues that its first petition…
Following a seven-week trial in Albany, Georgia, a jury has reportedly convicted former Peanut Corp. of America owner Stewart Parnell, his brother Michael Parnell and quality assurance manager Mary Wilkerson on charges stemming from a 2008-2009 Salmonella outbreak that sickened hundreds of people nationwide and was linked to nine deaths. United States v. Parnell, No. 13-cr-12 (U.S. Dist. Ct., M.D. Ga., Albany Div., verdict entered September 19, 2014). Details about the mail and wire fraud, obstruction and conspiracy charges appear in Issue 472 of this Update. The conspiracy and obstruction charges each carry a potential sentence of 20 years in prison; sentencing will occur at a later date. Two former plant managers who were also charged entered guilty pleas that required them to cooperate with the prosecution. According to a news source, this could be the first time that corporate executives and facility workers have gone to trial in the…
Defense counsel and a U.S. attorney made their closing arguments September 11-12, 2014, in the criminal trial of three former Peanut Corp. of America officials and employees who were charged with mail and wire fraud, obstruction, conspiracy, and other counts relating to a nationwide 2008-2009 Salmonella outbreak linked to the company’s Blakely, Georgia, facility. United States v. Parnell, No. 13-cr-12 (M.D. Ga.). Details about the charges appear in Issue 472 of this Update. The prosecution reportedly rested its case on September 11 in a trial that began August 2, and just one defendant—Michael Parnell—chose to present any evidence during a session lasting about an hour. His counsel argued that Michael was not a company director and never received a Peanut Corp. paycheck; rather, he was a customer who purchased tainted food from his brother Stewart’s plant, said a news source. Former owner Stewart Parnell decided not to introduce any testimony, and during…
Attorneys representing the former Peanut Corp. of America owner and employees charged with conspiracy, mail and wire fraud, obstruction of justice and other counts involving the distribution of adulterated or misbranded food that allegedly led to a deadly Salmonella outbreak, had their opportunity on August 19, 2014, to cross-examine the company’s Blakely, Georgia, plant manager, Samuel Lightsey, who has been testifying as a government witness. United States v. Parnell, No. 13-cr-12 (M.D. Ga., Albany Div., filed February 15, 2013). Among other matters, the attorneys reportedly focused on the plea deal Lightsey struck with prosecutors; he was facing more than 30 years in prison, but could serve no more than six or go free if he substantially helps prosecute others. They also sought to show that (i) former owner Stewart Parnell was concerned about safety, (ii) Lightsey was responsible for plant safety, (iii) extensive retesting of samples positive for Salmonella came…
As the criminal prosecution of Peanut Corp. of America executives continues into its second week, the former south Georgia peanut-processing plant manager reportedly admitted lying to federal investigators about positive tests for Salmonella in company products and the frequency of testing “to play damage control, [and in an effort] to protect the company.” According to news sources, Samuel Lightsey, who agreed to plead guilty to seven criminal counts to reduce his potential prison sentence in exchange for his testimony against his former colleagues, also testified that the company cheated on safety testing by switching samples and shipping thousands of pounds of peanut products after learning they were contaminated or before testing could be completed. The contaminated peanut paste, traced to the Peanut Corp. facility, allegedly sickened more than 700 people and killed nine in a 2008-2009 Salmonella outbreak that led to one of the largest food recalls in U.S. history.…
The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA’s) Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) has announced plans to implement “new traceback procedures when FSIS or another agency finds raw ground beef or bench trim presumptive positive for Escherichia coli O157:H7.” Under the new system, which takes effect October 14, 2014, the agency will ask suppliers to recall products that test positive for E. coli O157:H7 later in the supply chain if FSIS or another agency determines that contamination most likely occurred at the supplier’s establishment and if the product in question was sent to other grinding facilities. As explained in an August 13, 2013, press release, these new procedures “will allow the agency to trace contaminated ground beef back to its source more quickly, remove it from commerce, and find the root cause of the incident to prevent it from recurring.” To this end, FSIS will begin traceback investigations as soon as it…
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has released an executive report summarizing the data collected by the National Antimicrobial Resistance Monitoring System (NARMS) since 1996. Implemented by FDA, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and the U.S. Department of Agriculture, NARMS tracks antibiotic resistance in foodborne bacteria, focusing on antibiotics “that are considered important to human health as well as multidrug resistance [MDR]” to three or more antibiotic classes. According to an August 11, 2014, news release, FDA identified “positive and negative trends in antimicrobial resistance in bacteria isolated from humans, retail meats and food animals.” For non-typhoidal Salmonella, which showed no resistance in 85 percent of samples isolated from humans, the report found that “MDR among humans, slaughtered chicken and slaughtered swine was the lowest [in 2011] since testing began,” though “MDR Salmonella from retail poultry meats generally increased.” NARMS also concluded that “erythromycin resistance in Campylobacter jejuni…
