Former Manager Says Peanut Plant Complaints Ignored
He Says He Told Owner of Rodent Infestation, Leaky Roof
By DAN HARRIS and KATE BARRETT, ABC News, Feb. 16, 2009
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A manager at the Peanut Corp. of America's plant in Plainview, Texas, said he repeatedly complained to the company owner, Stewart Parnell, and the Texas Department of Health about unsanitary conditions at the plant.

Kenneth Kendrick said in an exclusive interview today with "Good Morning America" that when he worked at the Texas plant in 2006, he told Parnell about a rodent infestation and a leaky roof.

"Water, particularly anything leaking off a roof, and this is where things get a little disgusting, is there's bird feces washing in," Kendrick said on "GMA."

Peanut Corp. of America, the company at the center of a widespread salmonella outbreak, filed for bankruptcy Friday.

Parnell appeared in Washington Wednesday for a congressional hearing about the tainted peanut products, but he refused to answer lawmakers' questions, citing his Fifth Amendment rights.

Kendrick said Parnell would not provide money to fix problems and unsanitary conditions.

"The owner wouldn't give us the money to do what we needed to do. The funds were not there," Kendrick said.

Kendrick said the issue of sick customers never came up. "I don't know if he (Parnell) even thought about it," he said. "The concern for Mr. Parnell was the money issues."

Calls to Peanut Corp. of America for a response to Kendrick's claims were unreturned.

Kendrick also said he sent an e-mail to the Texas Department of Health but never received a response.

"I wasn't sure how to take that," he said. "I was just kind of taken aback."

Texas officials told ABC News they've searched through their database and found no record of any e-mails from Kendrick.

Kendrick said he's speaking out now because his granddaughter became ill with salmonella-type symptoms for three weeks in December, a time when she only wanted to eat peanut butter crackers.

"So I kept giving her the crackers and she kept getting sicker," Kendrick said. "I've had a lot of sleepless nights over that, a lot of crying over that issue."

Kendrick said he's also speaking out after seeing the anguish of other families who have dealt with illnesses.

"I hope he (Parnell) never has to witness anyone in his family going through what my family and other families have," Kendrick said. "I wouldn't wish that even on Mr. Parnell."

Peanut Company Files for Bankruptcy
Survey Finds One in Three People Are Not Confident in Food Safety System
By KATE BARRETT, ABC News, Feb. 13, 2009
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Capping an action-packed week in the investigation of a widespread salmonella outbreak, the peanut company at the heart of the examination has filed for bankruptcy.

Peanut Corp. of America's Friday bankruptcy filing came after the list of recalled peanut products grew even longer Thursday night, when the company announced it was recalling all products shipped from a second of its plants. Of three plants owned by the company, both its Blakely, Ga., and Plainview, Texas, facilities have found evidence of possible salmonella and unsanitary conditions.

The Plainview plant had a long list of customers that, at one point, did business with the facility, including big names, such as Abbott Laboratories, Frito-Lay, General Mills, Kellogg and Whole Foods. Some 1,900 products now grace the list of one of the largest food recalls in U.S. history.

"The news from Texas state health officials of conditions at PCA's Plainview plant is alarming," said Rep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., in a statement Thursday night. "I am pleased Texas officials have taken immediate action to recall every product ever produced at the facility."

"More alarming is the concern that there could be hundreds or even thousands of food processing facilities operating in this country that have never been inspected by the FDA, just as this plant has been doing since March 2005," said Stupak, who serves as chairman of the panel that examined the issue Wednesday.

What's Safe to Eat?
According to a survey released Friday, many Americans are confused about what products the peanut recall includes. A study released by the Harvard School of Public Health found that one in four Americans mistakenly thought big brand names of peanut butter were already included, though they are not. The study also found that one in three are not confident that the food service industry and government inspectors can keep food safe.

Brand name peanut butter is still said to be safe for consumption, whereas smaller peanut butter brands and a variety of other products containing peanuts, from crackers and candies to ice cream, have been recalled.

Shoppers can learn which products are still safe by examining the list of recalled products on the Food and Drug Administration's Web site.

The salmonella outbreak has resulted in 600 illnesses and an estimated nine deaths believed to be linked to bad peanuts.

This week, lawmakers and victims' families expressed their anger over the outbreak and questioned the ability of the the food industry and the government to keep products safe.

Truck drivers, too, have started to blow the whistle. First reported by ABC TV affiliate WHAS 11 in Louisville, Ky., the driver of a truck traveling from Texas to Georgia said that along the way, packages of peanut paste burst in the back of his rig. After shoveling the paste out and putting it in barrels, the shipment was rejected at one Georgia company, but the Peanut Corp. of America signed for it and accepted the delivery.

Peanut Co. President Takes the 5th
On Wednesday, Peanut Corp. of America President Stewart Parnell appeared before lawmakers on Capitol Hill, but refused to answer questions posed by a congressional panel.

Parnell repeatedly told lawmakers, "I respectfully decline to answer your question based on the protection afforded to me under the United States Constitution."

Though Parnell did not speak out, family members of victims who attended the hearing said his e-mails -- released by the panel Wednesday -- spoke volumes. The company e-mails, obtained by the House panel, suggested the Peanut Corp. of America allowed peanuts, that it knew could be tainted, to leave the plant.

In one e-mail to health officials, Parnell communicated the dire need "to turn the raw peanuts on our floor into money" during the growing recall.

"I didn't think I could possibly get more outraged than I already am about how this happened, but I have to tell you it's really reached another level after seeing e-mails and comments from Mr. Parnell, no excuses," said Jeffrey Almer, whose 72-year-old mother died just before Christmas.

"This company cared more about its financial bottom line than it did about the safety of its customers," said panel chairman Rep. Henry Waxman, D-Calif.

Lawmakers also said the broader food safety system needs fixing.

"We appear to have a total systemic breakdown, with severe consequences for hundreds of victims, for which we need explanations," said Stupak.

Rep. John Dingell, D-Mich., said to FDA food safety director Stephen Sundlof, "Either you don't have the resources, or you are incompetent to do the job you're supposed to do -- which conclusion am I to arrive at?"

"I would hope the former," Sundlof replied.

One major consumer group also took the agency to task.

"It is unacceptable for corporations to put consumers' health at risk, and then simply declare bankruptcy and go out of business when they get caught," stated Jean Halloran, Director of Food Policy Initiatives at Consumers Union, publisher of Consumer Reports. "We must have an FDA that can oversee food processors so that unscrupulous behavior can be detected, prevented and deterred."

Lawmakers examined the issue the day after the company's subsidiary in Plainview announced it, too, would temporarily close its doors after lab tests detected the possible presence of salmonella. Officials said samples taken last week from the Peanut Corporation of America's plant in Plainview were 99 percent positive for salmonella, though those tainted products did not make it to consumers.

On Monday of this week, the FBI raided the Blakely, Ga., facility as part of the ongoing criminal investigation into the peanut recall.

The Peanut Corporation of America's third plant, located in Suffolk, Va., was inspected by the FDA Jan 26. The FDA took samples there that came back negative.

ABC News' Lisa Stark and Brian Hartman contributed to this report

Medina County woman's death is second in Ohio linked to salmonella
Cleveland.com, LINK

Parnell sat stiffly, his hands folded in his lap at the witness table, as Rep. Greg Walden, R-Ore., held up a clear jar of his company's products wrapped in crime scene tape and asked him if he would be willing to eat the food.

"Mr. Chairman and members of the committee, on advice of my counsel, I respectively decline to answer your questions based on the protections afforded me under the U.S. Constitution," Parnell said.

After repeating the statement several times, he was dismissed from the hearing.

Shortly afterward, a lab tester testified that the company discovered salmonella at its Georgia plant as far back as 2006.

The House panel released e-mails obtained by its investigators showing Parnell ordered products identified with salmonella shipped and quoting his complaints that tests discovering the contaminated food were "costing us huge $$$$$$."

In mid-January after the national outbreak was tied to his company, Parnell told Food and Drug Administration officials that his workers "desperately at least need to turn the raw peanuts on our floor into money." In another exchange, he told his plant manager to "turn them loose" after products once deemed contaminated were cleared in a second test.

Parnell's response to a final lab test last year showing salmonella was about how much it would cost, and the impact lab testing was having on moving his products.

"We need to discuss this," he wrote in an Oct. 6 e-mail to Sammy Lightsey, his plant manager. "The time lapse, beside the cost is costing us huge $$$$$$ and causing obviously a huge lapse in time from the time we pick up peanuts until the time we can invoice."

Lightsey also invoked his right not to testify when he appeared alongside Parnell before the subcommittee.

The disclosures came in correspondence released by a House Energy and Commerce subcommittee Wednesday during a hearing on the salmonella outbreak.

"Their behavior is criminal, in my opinion. I want to see jail time," said Jeffrey Almer, whose 72-year-old mother died Dec. 21 in Minnesota of salmonella poisoning after eating Peanut Corp.'s peanut butter. Almer and other relatives of victims urged lawmakers to approve mandatory product recalls and improve public notice about contaminated food.

A federal criminal investigation is under way.

Darlene Cowart of JLA USA testing service said the company contacted her in November 2006 to help control salmonella discovered in the plant.

Cowart said she made one visit to the plant at the company's request and pointed out problems with its peanut roasting process and storage of raw and finished peanuts together that could have led to the salmonella. She testified that Peanut Corp. officials said they believed the salmonella came from organic Chinese peanuts.

An earlier FDA inspection report said the company found salmonella in some of its products a dozen times dating to June 2007.

"We appear to have a total systemic breakdown," said Rep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., chairman of the committee's investigations subcommittee.

Other e-mails released by the committee show after salmonella was discovered in the Georgia plant's products, Parnell tried to salvage whatever he could from the plant, looking for loopholes in what the government said they could use.

In a Jan. 19 e-mail about a truck with more than 33,000 pounds of raw peanuts, Parnell noted that Georgia agriculture officials are "putting a hold on everything else in the plant" beside what was on the truck.

"Obviously we are not shipping any peanut butter products affected by the recall but desperately at least need to turn the raw peanuts on our floor into money," he wrote. "We have other raw peanuts on our floor that we would like to do the same with."

In another exchange, Parnell complained to a worker after they notified him salmonella was discovered in more products.

"I go thru this about once a week," he wrote in a June 2008 e-mail. "I will hold my breath .......... again."

A laboratory owner told the House panel that the peanut company's disregard for tests identifying salmonella in its product is "virtually unheard of" in the nation's food industry and should prompt efforts to increase federal oversight of product safety.

Charles Deibel, president of Deibel Laboratories Inc., said his company was among those that tested Peanut Corp. products and notified the Georgia plant that salmonella was found. Peanut Corp. sold the products anyway, according to an FDA inspection report.

"What is virtually unheard of is for an entity to disregard those results and place potentially contaminated products into the stream of commerce," Deibel said.

Deibel said he hopes the crisis leads to a greater role for FDA in overseeing food safety and providing more guidance to food makers.

The company, now under FBI investigation, makes only about 1 percent of U.S. peanut products. But its ingredients are used by dozens of other food companies.

AP Science Writer Seth Borenstein contributed to this report.

Timeline of the Salmonella Outbreak
Track the Chain of Events in the Recall of More Than 1,550 Peanut Products
By BRIAN HARTMAN and KATE BARRETT, ABC News, Feb. 10, 2009
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More than 1,550 peanut products have now been removed from store shelves because of a widespread salmonella outbreak that has prompted one of the largest recalls in history. With an ongoing criminal investigation focused on Peanut Corporation of America, Congress will further examine the problem during a Wednesday hearing on Capitol Hill.

Below is a timeline of the company's dealings with the Food and Drug Administration -- compiled from Senate testimony, documents obtained through Freedom of Information Act requests, local news reports and updates from the Peanut Corporation of America and the FDA.

1990 -- The FDA cites the Virginia-based Peanut Corporation of America for shipping peanut products containing aflatoxins, according to documents filed in Bedford County Circuit Court. Reported by the Lynchburg News and Advance, the presence of the toxic compound produced by fungi results in a recall and at least one lawsuit against Peanut Corporation of America.

Nov. 15, 2001 -- The FDA inspects a PCA plant "to determine disposition of a lot of blanched peanut splits that contained 71 ppb aflatoxins," according to the inspection report. The report finds the company was "unable to bring the lot into compliance and it was subsequently sold for use as a wild bird feed." It also documents "ill-repaired equipment, spaces that could permit pest ingress into the plant, and webbing and dead beetles found on several bags of Sunflower Kernels on a pallet in the warehouse." Plant management promises to correct the problems. The FDA did not find any products adulterated by rodents or insects. In 2001, Peanut Corporation of America was not manufacturing peanut butter and was instead registered as a peanut roaster and blancher.

2006 -- Georgia tells the FDA that the Blakely plant is producing peanut butter.

Sept. 4, 2007 -- Inspectors with the Georgia Department of Agriculture complete a 13-day examination of Peanut Corporation of America's Blakely plant under an FDA/state contract. The inspection documents that the plant was producing peanut butter, peanut paste and peanut meal in addition to its other products. The inspection finds an uncovered product in a storage area, a damaged lid on a tank and a damaged wall that was difficult to clean. Each of those problems were corrected.

April 11, 2008 -- A Canadian distributor refuses a shipment of chopped peanuts from the Peanut Corporation because the peanuts contained metal fragments.

June 17, 2008 -- Under an FDA/state contract, the Georgia Department of Agriculture completes a seven-day inspection of the Blakely plant. Obtained by a FOIA request, the inspection report documents unsanitary conditions that were corrected during the inspection. Those findings include "steel wool pad in butter room used for cleaning not approved due to possible contamination, scraper used to work final bulk tank improperly stored above reject tank also no cleaning and sanitizing schedule for scraper, and dust build up on fan in butter fill area." According to the report, the FDA also requests that metal detection be evaluated because of the recently rejected peanut shipment. "The firm's procedure seems adequate for regular runs of product however the product in question was not checked for metal because of the metal/foil bags used in the original shipment that was rejected," the report states.

Peanut Recall Timeline
Sept. 1, 2008 -- Earliest onset of illness, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Sept. 15, 2008 -- The FDA refuses an attempt to ship the chopped peanuts back into the United States from Canada.

Oct. 23, 2008 -- The Georgia Department of Agriculture inspection notes some of the equipment at the plant was not properly maintained and cleaned and documents some mildew on the ceiling of a storage room.

Nov. 10, 2008 -- The CDC begins monitoring incidences of salmonella in 12 states.

Nov. 24, 2008 -- A 78-year-old woman in Kingsport, Tenn., dies after battling a high fever and diarrhea for nearly a week, according to medical reports provided to the Bristol, Va., Herald Courier. Gloria "Jeannie" Fields believes her mother is a victim of the national crisis.

Nov. 25, 2008 -- Incidences of salmonella are reported in 16 states.

Early December 2008 -- A closer look at salmonella illnesses is under way at the FDA and the CDC. "These combined clusters were then joined for an intense investigation and communication during December into early January, that usually starts with numerous interviews to suggest the likely food item and/or common exposures followed by these detailed epidemiologic studies of these food items," CDC assistant surgeon general Ali Khan told Senate lawmakers Feb. 5, 2009. "The early epidemiologic evidence suggested an association with peanut butter served in institutions as a possible explanation for at least a part of the outbreak."

Dec. 21, 2008 -- Shirley Mae Almer, of Perham, Minn., dies at age 72. "She died because every morning she liked to have toast with peanut butter," said Minnesota Sen. Amy Klobuchar last week.

January 2009 -- An elderly woman in Northeast Ohio dies in a nursing home after getting sick Christmas Day. According to Anne Morse, assistant director of nursing for the Summit County Health District, a salmonella infection she contracted 'contributed to her death. & I don't think it was the cause of death," Morse told the Akron Beacon Journal. "As I understand it, she had a lot of other health issues.'

Jan. 4, 2009 -- Doris Flatgard, 87, dies after eating peanut butter at a Brainerd, Minn., assisted living home.

Jan. 7, 2009 -- "On Jan. 7 and 8, based on conversations with the CDC, FSIS [Food and Safety Inspection Service] and the Minnesota Department of Health about preliminary epidemiological data, FDA decided to begin to investigate institutional food service sources of peanut butter rather than wait for more conclusive data," FDA food safety director Stephen Sundlof told senators last week.

Peanut Recall Evolution
Jan. 8, 2009 -- "Based on the preliminary information from CDC's multi-state case-controlled study, FDA made its initial contact with the King Nut Peanut Company -- King Nut Company in Ohio," Sundlof testified.
Jan. 9, 2009 -- The FDA initiates an inspection of the Blakely, Ga., plant. "Before we had absolute conclusive evidence, but we're fairly certain that those products were involved, we went to the plant, I believe that was on the 9th of January, and we discussed the findings with the company," Sundlof said. "Early on in the inspection, we asked had there ever been a positive salmonella finding for King Nut peanut butter, and the firm provided us that information."

"So when you asked that question, to start with, they didn't give you all their test results on -- showing positive for salmonella," said Sen. Saxby Chambliss, R-Ga.

"No, sir," Sundlof replied.

Jan. 10, 2009 -- Minnesota officials receive results from tests on an open, 5-pound container of King Nut peanut butter taken from a nursing home where three people got sick. King Nut issues its first recall related to the outbreak.

Jan. 12, 2009 -- Clifford Tousignant, a 78-year-old man, dies at the Good Samaritan Society-Woodland nursing home in Brainerd, Minn. Mike Deuth, administrator of the two nursing homes, tells the Minneapolis Star Tribune that about 10 of the approximately 460 people in the two facilities have became ill from salmonella.

Jan. 13, 2009 -- Peanut Corporation of America announces a nationwide recall.

Jan. 19, 2009 -- Connecticut Health Department officials testing an unopened container of King Nut peanut butter find it contains the outbreak strain.

Jan. 23, 2009 -- The U.S. Department of Agriculture issues a statement saying that, "Although the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) did not purchase or distribute any products implicated in the recall, these products may have been obtained locally from commercial sources for use at USDA/Food and Nutrition Service (FNS) program sites."

Jan. 27, 2009 -- The FDA completes its inspection of the Blakely, Ga., plant. The FDA says internal records from the Georgia facility show that there were 12 instances in 2007 and 2008 where the firm identified some type of salmonella during its tests. The agency says the firm then sought out an outside lab to test the product, and if those tests came back negative the company shipped the product out despite its initial findings. The FDA inspections also document unsanitary conditions at the plant, including cockroaches, mold and leaking roofs.

Jan. 28, 2009 -- The FDA announces a major expansion of the recall, saying the Georgia peanut processing plant will recall every peanut product it made in the last two years. Health officials say the recall is among the largest ever, with eight deaths and 501 illnesses in 43 states thought to be linked to the salmonella outbreak.

Jan. 30, 2009 -- The federal government launches a criminal investigation to get more answers about the salmonella outbreak, to be carried out by the FDA's criminal division and the Department of Justice. The FDA says it did not know that the Georgia plant found salmonella in its testing and reports.

Feb. 3, 2009 -- The consumer advocacy group Center for Science in the Public Interest asks grocery stores to use their customer loyalty programs to contact customers who have purchased recalled products.

Feb. 5, 2009 -- FDA and CDC officials as well as the mother of a salmonella victim testify before the Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry.

Feb. 9, 2009 -- The FBI raids the Peanut Corporation's Blakely, Ga. plant at the heart of the criminal investigation.

Feb. 10, 2009 -- A Peanut Corporation of America processing facility in Texas, the Plainview Peanut Company, announces that it, too, will voluntarily suspend its operations during the food safety investigation.