Wednesday, February 11, 2009

Email is Smoking Gun in Salmonella Cover Up


Okay, so that headline is dramatic. But when there is written evidence of testing of peanuts with salmonella way back in 2006 and the owners and managers decide to ship the tainted products anyway to keep the cash coming in, there's an ethics problem that quickly became deadly. Nine people have died from that business decision. The business decision was based on greed.
The owner of a U.S. peanut company refused to testify to Congress on Wednesday amid reports that he urged his workers to ship bacteria-tainted products and pleaded with health officials to be allowed to "turn the raw peanuts on the floor into money."
Stewart Parnell, owner of Peanut Corp. of America, repeatedly invoked his right not to incriminate himself before the House of Representatives subcommittee holding a hearing on a salmonella outbreak blamed on his company.

The outbreak has sickened some 600 people in the U.S. and may be linked to nine deaths — the latest reported in Ohio on Wednesday — and has resulted in one of the largest product recalls ever, involving more than 1,800 items.

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