After a deadly outbreak of food borne illnesses around America, authorities came to the realisation that the current American food safety system heavily relies on honesty of the producers. Which is not as reliable as we want it to be.
Witnesses testify that people from the Peanut Corporation of America sent out salmonella tainted products, knowing they were exposed to this dangerous bacteria. The report sent to customers contained lab results from other clean batches. This was done instead of waiting a day to confirm whether the products were free of the deadly bacteria.
Stewart Parnell of the Peanut Corporation of America and two of his co-defendants are facing a trial which could lead to a long prison sentence if they are convicted of knowingly shipping the contaminated peanut products linked to a nationwide salmonella outbreak that killed nine people and made 714 ill across 43 states in 2008 and 2009.
Now, the Peanut Corporation of America’s plant in rural Blakely, Georgia, was shut down and the company went bankrupt. However this was already long after consumers ate contaminated peanut butter, ice cream, energy bars and other products, the outbreak prompted one of the largest food recalls in US history.
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