| Jake first came down with flu-like symptoms: diarrhea and vomiting. On the third day, his parents saw blood in his stool and took him to the pediatrician, who had the good sense to collect a stool sample. It took several days to grow a culture to see what was making Jake sick.
In the meantime, Jake began to get a little bit better. His parents gave him Pedialyte and saltine crackers to keep him hydrated and nourished while he was sick, but Jake saw his favorite Austin Toasty Crackers with Peanut Butter in the pantry and he asked for them. His parents called the pediatrician's office and asked a nurse if it was okay. The reply: Jake could eat anything so long as it wasn't too heavy or harsh, he liked it, and he could keep it down. So they gave him the crackers.
On Day 7 of Jake's illness, his parents got a call from the pediatrician. Jake had salmonella. His parents checked on the CDC website and saw that there was no treatment - they just had to let the disease run its course. They also saw that there was a peanut butter recall due to King Nut brand peanut butter tainted with salmonella, but they didn't buy King Nut peanut butter, so they didn't think that was the problem.
King Nut is an institutional brand of peanut butter, sold in large containers to schools, nursing homes, and other institutions. So they called Jake's school to see if any other kids were sick. Nope, no one. Peter said in his testimony before Congress, "At that point we began to feel helpless in not knowing what got him sick. What had we unknowingly given him that gave him salmonella poisoning?" They had two other children, and the youngest was only seven months old. What had they given to Jake and how could they keep their other children and themselves safe?
First, the Hurleys got a call from the county health department. Then, 13 days after Jake got sick (and two days after he had recovered), the state health department called. The next day, an epidemiologist from the state health department came to their house. He took the remaining Austin Toast Crackers for testing and called back a week later. Three of the six packages of crackers tested positive for the exact DNA-subtype of salmonella that was found in Jake's stool. Of all of the salmonella cases in the U.S., the Hurleys are the only case that has an exact DNA match between the product, the stool sample and the PCA plant.
You can imagine how Peter felt as a father when he heard the details of the PCA plant that poisoned his son. He described the following to me:
It was just disgusting... You had everything from... rodents were being roasted with the peanuts, rainwater with bird droppings coming in onto the processing line from leaky roofs, rodents and roaches near processed food bins... and then, just the fact that Stewart Parnell [the CEO] knew that the product had salmonella in it and ordered his people to go ahead and send it out anyway. It's just utter criminally negligent behavior and... in my eyes, [Parnell] should be charged with criminally negligent homicide.
And yet, in the Congressional hearing where both were asked to testify, Parnell said nothing. Literally nothing. He took the fifth and refused to testify at all.
In his testimony, Hurley compared Parnell knowingly shipping out tainted peanut butter to a police officer "putting a loaded gun to someone's head, pulling the trigger, and in the horrific aftermath say 'I was just hoping that the bullet in the chamber wouldn't fire.'" In the latter case, that cop would be charged with murder. What's the difference when it's poison peanut butter instead of a gun doing the killing?
The Aftermath:
Fortunately, Jake is completely better, although his parents are vigilant, knowing that salmonella victims can sometimes develop arthritis or irritable bowel syndrome. The Hurleys sued and Jake received a settlement that has been put in trust for him for when he's older. It wasn't the money that was on their minds when they filed suit. It is that it is the "system that we are left with" as Peter puts it. "If big business is to be held accountable it is done through civil courts." Stewart Parnell is still walking around free, suffering no punishment worse than the loss of his business for his crimes, which saddens Hurley both as a citizen and a law enforcement professional.
I asked Peter if his family has changed the way they buy food. Without hesitation he replied "Oh yeah!" and then proceeded to tell me about his family's vegetable garden. (He said, "We've talked for several years about putting in a vegetable garden but with three small kids it kept not happening, not happening, and then this year, we've kind of gone a little manic on it.") He feels lucky to live near enough to farm country, where he has access to milk from organic Jersey cows, pastured eggs ("Talk about a difference!" he says), beef, and poultry. He said, "You get to go out, you get to see your animals before they are slaughtered and it's like, 'No, they aren't in some stinking feedlot.'"
They still buy some packaged food, but less. As he pointed out, going cold turkey with major changes is difficult, particularly with three children, so they still buy some packaged foods like breakfast cereals. They haven't given up peanut butter. However, he bought a instant read thermometer for cooking and he uses it religiously to make sure everything they eat is cooked to a temperature that will kill all potential pathogens.
Peter reflected on the changes in the food supply chain in the last half-century, noting that even fifty years ago, if one grocer did not take care to supply safe, wholesome products, consumers could buy from another grocer who took pride in selling safe food. But now, as he said, "it doesn't matter where you go. It's all the same supply chain." There are "so few [food] providers and so little oversight." That makes it more difficult for a consumer to choose the best quality, safe products. |
