Events Calendar
In This Section
Atty: Ex-N.Y. art dealer to admit nearly $100M fraud
Judge finalizes South Carolina governor Mark Sanford's divorce
Couple: Police have wrong address – a lot
Accused 'Jihad Jane' denies terror plot in court
Pilot trapped under plane's wreckage for 8 hours
Cruise liner hit again with illness returns to South Carolina
U.S. citizen pleads guilty in 1968 air hijacking
Research monkey deaths prompt calls for crackdown
Most Read Stories
Iraq veteran dies after shooting near UA stadium
Man breaks into house, flees when owner wakes up
Theft, fraud allegations leave family in turmoil
Cavs to negotiate for Ilgauskas' return
Intoxicated, suicidal educator apprehended after chilling drive in park
Teen accused of drinking, dancing topless in club
Irish eyes smiling on Falls newlyweds
Barberton man hit by vehicle after fight dies
Blogs:
Akron Docs in Haiti:
Almost home
First Bell - On Education:
Strange, sad story from Canton
Pets:
Found: White Eskimo male dog near Bath and State Rd.
The Heldenfiles:
Fess Parker, R.I.P.
Akron Zips:
Looking back on the season
Tribe Matters:
Cabrera says it’s time to play
Cleveland Browns:
Yates latest to re-sign
Balanced Ledger:
How times have changed?
Kent State Sports:
Kent State beats Tulsa in NIT; Will face Illinois on ESPNU
Cleveland Cavaliers:
Highlights from Wednesday’s Cavs-Pacers Game
Buckeye Blogging:
Bucks High Seed – Turner High Praise
Varsity Letters:
DII state semifinal: Walsh Jesuit loses to Hathaway Brown 53-48
All Da King's Men:
ObamaCare To Reduce Premiums By 3000% ?
Blog of Mass Destruction:
Why Republicans Are Acting So Crazy
Akron Law Café:
Does Capitalism Inspire "Moral Flexibility"?
Car Chase:
2010 CONCOURS SEASON IS UPON US
Let's Talk Real Estate:
Deals in Miami?!.
Sound Check:
Willie Nelson & Family coming to the Akron Civic Theatre May 11
See Jane Style:
Who Wore What – The Oscars
HRLite House:
Horses of Courses
Akron Gamer:
PlayStation's Move ups the interaction, fidelity
By Ricardo Alonso-Zaldivar
Associated Press
POSTED: 09:04 a.m. EDT, Mar 20, 2009
WASHINGTON: The mortgage meltdown exposed the weakness of self-regulation in financial markets. Now the salmonella outbreak is doing the same for the food industry.
A House subcommittee Thursday released new documents that showed how private inspectors contracted by Peanut Corp. of America failed to find long-standing sanitary problems at company facilities. Peanut Corp. is at the center of a nationwide outbreak that has sickened nearly 700 people and is blamed for at least nine deaths.
Lawmakers said the food industry's private inspection system failed to catch filthy conditions because the company itself hired the inspectors.
''There is an obvious and inherent conflict of interest when an auditor works for the same supplier it is evaluating,'' said Rep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., chairman of the House Energy and Commerce investigations subcommittee. He termed it a ''cozy relationship.''
Last summer, Peanut Corp.'s private inspector, a company called AIB, awarded the peanut processor a certificate in 2008 for ''superior'' quality at its Plainview, Texas, plant. This year, salmonella was discovered there.
The outbreak was initially traced to a Peanut Corp. facility in Blakely, Ga. Later, contamination was found at the Texas plant. Peanut Corp. is under criminal investigation for allegedly shipping products it knew to be tainted.
Owner Stewart Parnell has refused to answer questions from lawmakers, citing constitutional protections against self-incrimination. On Thursday, Parnell told The Associated Press he couldn't comment on the allegations and referred questions to his attorney, who was not immediately available.
Federal law does not require food companies to pay for their own inspections of suppliers. Nor are industry labs and inspectors required to tell the government about any problems they find.
At least one food company that used its own inspectors, Nestle USA, ultimately decided not to do business with Peanut Corp. Nestle USA had no recalls. But a Nestle affiliate in Puerto Rico recalled some ice cream products, and Nestle HealthCare Nutrition — another affiliate — recalled a nutritional bar.
The committee released a 2002 Nestle USA inspection report of Peanut Corp.'s Blakely plant. ''They found that the place was filthy,'' said Rep. Henry Waxman, D-Calif.
A second audit by Nestle USA of Peanut Corp.'s Texas facility in 2006 also found major pest control and other problems. The audit said that would disqualify the plant from supplying chopped peanut pieces to sprinkle atop Drumstick ice-cream cones.
Auditors found at least 50 mouse carcasses in and around the plant and also a dead pigeon ''lying on the ground near the peanut-receiving door.''
The audit also said the plant had no pathogen-monitoring plan and noted that one needed to be developed for the plant to be in compliance with audit standards.
Companies that bought ingredients from Peanut Corp. said they had no way of defending themselves against a supplier they accuse of deliberately breaking the rules and covering up.
''I think we did everything we could do,'' Kellogg Co. chief executive David Mackay told the committee.
''The issue was that (Peanut Corp.) acted in a dishonest and unethical way,'' he added.
Lawmakers and the Obama administration say the problem goes beyond a rogue company, and major reforms are needed. Legislation has been introduced in Congress to take food safety oversight away from the Food and Drug Administration and give it to a new agency with stronger legal powers and more funding.
Peanut Corp. produced not only peanut butter, but peanut paste, an ingredient found in foods from granola bars and dog biscuits to ice cream and cake. More than 3,490 products have been recalled, including some millions of Kellogg's Austin and Keebler peanut butter sandwich crackers.
The committee released a Jan. 7 e-mail exchange between Peanut Corp. owner Parnell and Joe Valenza, vice president of King Nut, an Ohio company whose products were the first to be recalled. King Nut bought cafeteria-sized containers of peanut butter from Parnell's firm and distributed them to nursing homes, schools and other facilities.
In his e-mail, Parnell sent news reports of the outbreak investigation, and said, ''Joe, I'm sure it's something we did.''
Valenza responded that he was going to issue a recall of all the peanut butter.
Parnell wrote back: ''Now my heart is really in my throat. . . . I think I'm going to church tonight.''
WASHINGTON: The mortgage meltdown exposed the weakness of self-regulation in financial markets. Now the salmonella outbreak is doing the same for the food industry.
A House subcommittee Thursday released new documents that showed how private inspectors contracted by Peanut Corp. of America failed to find long-standing sanitary problems at company facilities. Peanut Corp. is at the center of a nationwide outbreak that has sickened nearly 700 people and is blamed for at least nine deaths.
Lawmakers said the food industry's private inspection system failed to catch filthy conditions because the company itself hired the inspectors.
''There is an obvious and inherent conflict of interest when an auditor works for the same supplier it is evaluating,'' said Rep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., chairman of the House Energy and Commerce investigations subcommittee. He termed it a ''cozy relationship.''
Last summer, Peanut Corp.'s private inspector, a company called AIB, awarded the peanut processor a certificate in 2008 for ''superior'' quality at its Plainview, Texas, plant. This year, salmonella was discovered there.
The outbreak was initially traced to a Peanut Corp. facility in Blakely, Ga. Later, contamination was found at the Texas plant. Peanut Corp. is under criminal investigation for allegedly shipping products it knew to be tainted.
Owner Stewart Parnell has refused to answer questions from lawmakers, citing constitutional protections against self-incrimination. On Thursday, Parnell told The Associated Press he couldn't comment on the allegations and referred questions to his attorney, who was not immediately available.
Federal law does not require food companies to pay for their own inspections of suppliers. Nor are industry labs and inspectors required to tell the government about any problems they find.
At least one food company that used its own inspectors, Nestle USA, ultimately decided not to do business with Peanut Corp. Nestle USA had no recalls. But a Nestle affiliate in Puerto Rico recalled some ice cream products, and Nestle HealthCare Nutrition — another affiliate — recalled a nutritional bar.
The committee released a 2002 Nestle USA inspection report of Peanut Corp.'s Blakely plant. ''They found that the place was filthy,'' said Rep. Henry Waxman, D-Calif.
A second audit by Nestle USA of Peanut Corp.'s Texas facility in 2006 also found major pest control and other problems. The audit said that would disqualify the plant from supplying chopped peanut pieces to sprinkle atop Drumstick ice-cream cones.
Auditors found at least 50 mouse carcasses in and around the plant and also a dead pigeon ''lying on the ground near the peanut-receiving door.''
The audit also said the plant had no pathogen-monitoring plan and noted that one needed to be developed for the plant to be in compliance with audit standards.
Companies that bought ingredients from Peanut Corp. said they had no way of defending themselves against a supplier they accuse of deliberately breaking the rules and covering up.
''I think we did everything we could do,'' Kellogg Co. chief executive David Mackay told the committee.
''The issue was that (Peanut Corp.) acted in a dishonest and unethical way,'' he added.
Lawmakers and the Obama administration say the problem goes beyond a rogue company, and major reforms are needed. Legislation has been introduced in Congress to take food safety oversight away from the Food and Drug Administration and give it to a new agency with stronger legal powers and more funding.
Peanut Corp. produced not only peanut butter, but peanut paste, an ingredient found in foods from granola bars and dog biscuits to ice cream and cake. More than 3,490 products have been recalled, including some millions of Kellogg's Austin and Keebler peanut butter sandwich crackers.
The committee released a Jan. 7 e-mail exchange between Peanut Corp. owner Parnell and Joe Valenza, vice president of King Nut, an Ohio company whose products were the first to be recalled. King Nut bought cafeteria-sized containers of peanut butter from Parnell's firm and distributed them to nursing homes, schools and other facilities.
In his e-mail, Parnell sent news reports of the outbreak investigation, and said, ''Joe, I'm sure it's something we did.''
Valenza responded that he was going to issue a recall of all the peanut butter.
Parnell wrote back: ''Now my heart is really in my throat. . . . I think I'm going to church tonight.''
Comments
Click here to post your comments
