SAVANNAH, Ga. (AP) — ConAgra is heading to court to finalize an $11.2 million plea deal in a federal criminal case stemming from a salmonella outbreak that sickened hundreds who ate tainted Peter Pan peanut butter.
A federal judge in Albany, Georgia, is scheduled to decide Thursday whether to approve the settlement reached with Justice Department prosecutors in May 2015.
The case has taken a long time to reach a resolution. It's been a decade since salmonella blamed for sickening at least 625 people in 47 states was traced to a Georgia plant that produced peanut butter for ConAgra. Peter Pan vanished from store shelves for months during a 2007 recall.
The settlement includes an $8 million fine that prosecutors say is the largest criminal fine ever in a U.S. food safety case.