Dive Brief:
- A federal judge has ordered a more thorough investigation and search for the victims of the Salmonella Tennessee outbreak in 2006 to 2007. The outbreak involved Peter Pan and Great Value peanut butter produced by ConAgra Foods’ plant in Sylvester, GA.
- "Under the Crime Victims Right Act, consumers who bought Peter Pan and Great Value peanut butter produced by ConAgra at the giant food conglomerate’s plant in Sylvester, GA, are entitled to be notified of certain court proceedings, including the sentencing of guilty parties," Food Safety News reports.
- The judge wants to see a new agenda in about a month that involves regional newspapers to help spread the word to possible victims, more than the initial proposal by government attorneys: "The first would be direct notice to known potential victims based on a list of 1,480 such people kept by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). The second would be posting on DOJ’s website, which has been accepted by courts around the country in similar circumstances," according to Food Safety News.
Dive Insight:
Last month, ConAgra reached an $11.2 million deal to settle a federal criminal charge — $8 million for criminal fines and $3.2 million in forfeitures to the U.S. government. The salmonella outbreak from the Sylvester plant infected at least 700 people in at least 44 states, about 20% of whom went to the hospital.
"At one point, employees with the Centers for Disease Control estimated that perhaps 20,000 individuals may have been sickened by the contaminated peanut butter during the 2006-07 outbreak," according to government attorneys.