A federal judge last week approved the largest fine ever in a food safety case for a 2007 salmonella outbreak linked to contaminated peanut butter.
The Justice Department announced that ConAgra Grocery Products, a subsidiary of the Omaha-based packaged food giant, pleaded guilty in a Georgia courtroom Tuesday to misdemeanor violations of the federal Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act. The settlement included an $8 million criminal fine and an additional forfeitures of $3.2 million.
More than 600 people in 47 states were sickened by tainted Peter Pan and Great Value brand peanut butter linked to a ConAgra plant in Sylvester, Ga., with thousands more illnesses likely unreported.
The company admitted as part of the plea agreement that repeated testing in 2006 and 2007 showed evidence of salmonella contamination prior to the recall, and that it was aware of the risk of contamination as early as 2004.
“Consumers are at the mercy of food merchants when it comes to the wholesomeness and healthiness of the food we consume and, as the result, a great responsibility is imposed by law on those merchants and manufacturers,” U.S. Attorney G. F. “Pete” Peterman III said in a statement.
The company and prosecutors reached the settlement agreement last year, but federal law required victims to be notified of sentencing details and the case languished while government attorneys made additional efforts to find them.
The Associated Press reported that 150 people sought financial restitution as part of the case, but U.S. District Judge W. Louis Sands rejected their requests. He noted that none of the victims could definitively prove that the recalled peanut butter caused their illnesses, and that civil settlements related to the outbreak awarded a total of $36 million to more than 6,800 people.
"This to me is an injustice done all over again, especially after 10 years of waiting for justice," Mona McCombs, one of three women to ask the judge for restitution in court, told the AP.
ConAgra officials, meanwhile, noted that the company spent $275 million to upgrade the plant and implement new testing procedures. The company blamed a faulty roof and sprinkler system for the contamination more than a decade ago.
"The company has behaved in a model way, as a model corporate citizen, ever since that time," ConAgra attorney Douglas Fellman told the judge, according to the AP. "Since that time, we have an unblemished record. Peter Pan peanut butter is wholesome and it's safe."
