Con Agra Grocery Products, the company behind the peanut butter brand Peter Pan, pleaded guilty to causing the Salmonella outbreak in 2006 to 2007. Affecting 700 consumers in the U.S., they were fined US$11.2 million for violating the federal Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act.
The company will be paying $8 million in criminal fines and a $3.2 million penalty to the federal government, NBC reports.
In February 2007, a sudden salmonella outbreak was announced by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The virus was traced back to Peter Pan peanut butter, with 700 reported cases linked to the disease since August 2006.
The Department of Justice then filed a case against Con Agra Grocery Products for manufacturing samonellosis-contaminated peanut butter from August 4, 2006 to January 29, 2007. The peanut butter packages were shipped across the country.
Con Agra also admitted that they have already noticed possible unsafe and unhygienic signs and practices at their peanut butter plant in Sylvester, Georgia in 2004. These include drops of moisture coming from roof leaks and the presence of damaged machines used in manufacturing the peanut-based product.
The company then terminated production in February 14, 2007, and recalled all the peanut butter produced in the Sylvester plant since January 2007.
Samples were investigated to be contaminating the Salmonella virus. Same strains of the virus were also found during the environmental testing throughout the plant.
Acting Associate Attorney General Stuart Delery said in an interview that companies are trusted in making sure their food is safe. "Department of Justice is dedicated to using all the tools we have to ensure the processors and handlers of our food live up to their legal obligations to keep the public's safety in mind."
The World Health Organization describes salmonella as bacteria that causes food-borne illness throughout the world. Symptoms include vomiting, abdominal pain and diarrhea. No deaths have been reported due to this peanut butter case.
