Dive Brief:
- Witnesses testifying at the federal criminal trial looking into an outbreak of food-borne illness at Peanut Corporation of America said that senior executives at the company knowingly shipped foods contaminated with salmonella. Nine people died in the resulting outbreak in 2008 and 2009.
- Testimony by Samuel Lightsey, a former plant manager, on Friday offered shocking details about how business was conducted at PCA, and unveiled the vulnerabilities of a food-safety system that depends upon self-reporting and professionalism.
- Lightsey pleaded guilty earlier in connection with the case and is testifying against his former bosses in hopes of receiving a lighter sentence.
Dive Insight:
No one from Peanut Corporation of America has been charged in connection with the nine deaths. Rather, prosecutors are pursuing an interesting angle in an attempt to bring justice -- they've charged the executives with criminal fraud for lying to customers -- particularly Kellogg's.
As it turns out, PCA's contract with Kellogg's required that PCA certify its facilities were free of salmonella. If Lightsey's testimony is to be believed, PCA apparently signed documents verifying this when they knew that salmonella was present and had contaminated the food.