Monday Evening Sampler Platter

by: JayinPhiladelphia

Mon Mar 23, 2009 at 16:00:00 PM PDT

• A new restaurant near the University of Texas at Arlington, which uses locally grown, organic ingredients as much as possible, has a no-set-price policy, and asks customers to discreetly pay (in an envelope) afterwards for what they thought the meal was worth.  The idea is based upon an existing Salt Lake City non-profit community kitchen's model.  Can it work for a commercial establishment?  So far, the restaurant is coming up just short, although it's only two months old and the business itself is always a rough one.

• The City of Berkeley, CA may soon transform all of its parks and open spaces into habitats for bees, in an effort to reverse the recent global decline of pollinators.

• If you're in Kansas, you can vote for the best food in the state from now until March 31.  Unfortunately, restaurants must be at least a decade old in order to be considered, so that rules out Lawrence's Local Burger for at least the next 7 years.  I'm sure there's something else worth considering in Lawrence, though...

• USDA will update its Plant Hardiness Zone Map later this year, for the first time since 1990, to reflect the climate-change induced shifts of planting zones northward.

More below the fold...

Today's House Salmonella Hearing

by: Jill Richardson

Thu Mar 19, 2009 at 17:08:43 PM PDT

Opening statements, written testimony, and documents for the hearing can be found here.

Marler Op-ed - Peanut Recall: Many Unhappy Returns - $1 Billion in Losses

by: bmarler

Sat Mar 07, 2009 at 16:31:51 PM PST

At the same time, we brace ourselves for the familiar rant: We are the blood-sucking ambulance chasers who impose crippling legal costs on honest companies that have made innocent mistakes trying to feed the nation. So be it. Limbaugh, Hannity, O'Reilly, Beck, Dobbs and friends can bash us all day and all night for our efforts to make companies pay the personal costs associated with their mistakes. If somebody knows a better way to get justice and compensation for injured people, I want to hear about it. But, for the record, trial lawyers like me are not the reason that screw-up companies like Peanut Corporation of America (PCA) go bankrupt. We are not the reason our Government has failed to protect its citizens.

Remember PCA?

by: JayinPhiladelphia

Fri Mar 06, 2009 at 16:15:17 PM PST

* A dead mouse stuck to a glue trap. "The mouse appeared to have died recently," the report reads.

* "What appeared to be rodent excreta pellets too numerous to count were observed in the cabinet under the sink in the south most kitchen."

* "In the cabinet north of the dishwasher ... I counted approximately 27 rodent excreta pellets."

* "Another dead mouse was found just outside the south most doorway of the kitchen. ... This mouse also appeared to have recently died."

* "What appeared to be a bird's nest was observed in the wall/ceiling metal support beam at southwest corner of the mezzanine area."

* Processing machines had buildup of "gooey" peanut paste.

* Numerous roof leaks.

In an ironic twist, it turns out that a Texas State Health Inspector regularly drove past the Plainview, TX PCA plant that the state didn't know existed on his way to other jobs -

A state inspector drove by the Plainview plant regularly on his way to other jobs, but he never entered the facility.

"I find it inconceivable that an inspector could pass the plant and not know food was processed there," Estes said. "We need a mechanism where people are aware of what's happening in their communities."

Also, an AP article from yesterday notes how easy it was for PCA to fool inspectors into believing it was licensed -

Jack McCasland, environmental inspector for the Plainview-Hale County Health Department, said plant officials led him to believe the licensing process was under way when he visited the facility before it opened.

"To be honest, I never really thought to follow up on it," McCasland said. "It just never occurred to me that they wouldn't be (licensed)."

PCA Update: VA Plant Had Long History of Rodents, Mold on Peanuts

by: JayinPhiladelphia

Wed Feb 25, 2009 at 03:29:35 AM PST

In Virginia, tests for salmonella have come back negative. But inspection reports revealed evidence of rodents and other unsanitary conditions at the Peanut Corp. plant in Suffolk. State inspectors repeatedly found evidence of rodents at the plant since Peanut Corp. bought it in 2000, according to inspection reports.

As recently as October, a Virginia inspector found "an accumulation of black, green and yellow mold" on blanched peanuts and 43 containers each holding 2,000-pounds of peanuts. The plant manager told the inspector after the discovery that those peanuts would be destroyed if not used for animal feed and oil stock.

That must be the new Rainbow Mold flavor.

Also, following up on the news from a week and a half ago of the new salmonella find at PCA's Texas plant, salmonella poisoning cases linked to products from PCA's Texas plant have moved beyond just Colorado, and on into Oregon -

Oregon health officials have confirmed a new case of salmonella infection, and for the first time peanuts sold in bins are the likely culprit. The peanuts came from the Peanut Corp. of America's Plainview, Texas, plant, which has been linked to a salmonella outbreak.

The recall continues to expand, and more below the fold...

Central Food Safety Agency Being Formed

by: JayinPhiladelphia

Wed Feb 25, 2009 at 02:01:53 AM PST

The commission's task would be "to strengthen the country's food monitoring system, whose low efficiency has long been blamed for repeated food scandals," the report said.

[...]

Experts have said a key reason for ... regulatory shortcomings is that too many different agencies have jurisdiction over the food industry.

Absolutely, and it's about time!  Even though it's fading from the headlines, the peanut salmonella outbreak is still ongoing, and the number of sicknesses continues to grow as one of the largest food recalls in history continues.

As Jill asks in the title of her Alternet article published yesterday, how do we know what's safe to eat?  Well unfortunately, we're still going to have to wait a bit for that here in the US...

Because the country currently setting up that central food safety agency is China.  Where at least 70 people were just sickened from eating tainted pork -

Investigations showed the suspect pork bought from local markets was contaminated with clenbuterol, a drug often given to people to treat asthma but also commonly used to cut body fat.

Cases of clenbuterol being given to pigs in China to reduce their fat have been recorded, but it is a banned food additive because it can be fatal for humans, the China Daily said.

One of the worst cases involving clenbuterol occurred in Shanghai in 2006 when 336 people were hospitalised after eating pig meat or organs contaminated with the additive, according to the paper.

Some Fun From the Internet Way Back Machine

by: Jill Richardson

Wed Feb 18, 2009 at 23:49:07 PM PST

But nothing ever goes away on the Internet. Bill Marler went and found all the fun stuff that I couldn't find myself :) In a post called Where Peanut Butter Web Pages Go To Die he quotes the old site. Here's my favorite paragraph

Safety and Quality do make a difference. We have a remarkable Food-Safety record, developed in an environment committed to continuous training and state-of-the-art Food Safety techniques. From the corporate office to the plant floors, our comprehensive Quality Control program assists us in preventing error, reducing waste, meeting requirements, measuring results and satisfying our customers.

Oh, yes! They DO have a remarkable food safety record. In fact, the entire national press corps is abuzz talking about it! Marler's got a second post of internet fun up here. Also, he mentions that due to the recent bankruptcy of PCA, he's changing all of his lawsuits to name Stewart Parnell as the defendant instead of the corporation. So... nice try Parnell!

Obama Foodorama's Super Dooper Peanut Butter Reporting

by: Jill Richardson

Wed Feb 18, 2009 at 14:42:45 PM PST

Pre-Hearing: Ms. Foodorama gave us the cast of characters to expect on the Hill and announced she'd be at the hearing.

Intra-Hearing: During the hearing, Obama Foodorama gave us exclusive LIVE coverage via Twiter, which I posted about here

Post-Hearing: After the hearing, she wrote up her experiences with a post about Parnell's damning emails being read into the Congressional record and another about Rep. John Dingell calling the FDA's Dr. Stephen Sundlof incompetent. She followed THAT up with another post of her overall thoughts on the hearing. But if there's one post about the hearing you MUST READ, it's this one, Obama Foodorama's most comprehensive post by far.

Since the hearing, she's continued her coverage with an update about PCA's organic certification (oh yes, it's true!) and an interactive timeline of the peanut butter recall.

So, for all of your hard work, from La Vida Locavore to Obama Foodorama, we say thanks!!!

Food Safety: Is More Regulation Really the Answer?

by: Jill Richardson

Wed Feb 18, 2009 at 10:00:00 AM PST

The case for murder and RICO indictments against Stewart Parnell

by: DarrellNC

Tue Feb 17, 2009 at 07:12:31 AM PST

We already know that Stewart Parnell better have a lawyer on speed dial for his (in the words of Rosa DeLauro) "reprehensible and criminal" behavior.  A lot of people have suggested--quite rightly, in my view--that he is guilty of second-degree murder, or at the very least, manslaughter.  It's my considered opinion that this is second-degree murder--an important distinction, because this means Parnell could face RICO charges at both the criminal and civil level.

Based on what we know so far, Parnell's behavior, not just in the events immediately before the salmonella outbreak, but for several years, are the very definition of second-degree murder.  In order to prove second-degree murder, you have to prove that the defendant acted with reckless disregard and indifference for human life.  You need only look at the emails Parnell sent out ordering the shipping of tainted material.  If ordering products to be shipped which you know contain salmonella doesn't constitute reckless disregard and indifference for human life, what does?

But even more damningly, we got proof on yesterday's Good Morning America that Parnell knew there were unsanitary conditions at one of his plants and failed to clean it up.

Peanut Corp. was a "time bomb," had sanitation problems as early as 1980s

by: DarrellNC

Sun Feb 15, 2009 at 11:00:26 AM PST

Today's Washington Post has a front-page story--about the rise and fall of Peanut Corporation of America.  The most devastating tidbits come from a former buyer for a major snack company, David Brooks.  Apparently, the conditions that eventually led to the salmonella outbreak had been prevalent in the company's operations for at least 20 years.

On three occasions in the mid-1980s, Brooks inspected PCA's Gorman plant to determine whether to buy its peanut products, he said. Each time, he gave the plant a failing grade.

"It was just filthy," said Brooks, who has since retired from the food business. "Dust was all over the beams, the braces of the building. The roofs leaked, the windows would be open, and birds would fly through the building. . . . It was just a time bomb waiting to go off, and everybody in the peanut industry in Georgia, Virginia and Texas -- they all knew."

This was back when Hugh Parnell, Sr. still ran the company.  He sold it in 1994, but Stewart Parnell bought it back in 2000 and added the Georgia and Virginia plants later on.  Like father, like son.

Salmonella Cases Traced To PCA Texas Plant

by: JayinPhiladelphia

Sun Feb 15, 2009 at 06:47:29 AM PST

Lynne Terry (aka "peanut girl") of the Oregonian broke the story yesterday that Colorado Health Officials have traced six Salmonella illnesses to the now closed Peanut Corporation of America's (PCA's) Plainville, Texas plant of Peanut Corporation of America. Until Lynne broke the story, "federal authorities had identified the company's plant in Blakely, Georgia as the [only] source of the outbreak that has sickened nearly 640 people and killed nine." According to Lynn, "epidemiologists in Denver told [her] on Friday that they have linked six new cases to the [Texas] plant...."

Here's the original Oregonian article from Friday -

On Thursday, Texas health authorities ordered the recall of all peanut-related ingredients ever shipped from the plant, which had operated since 2005 without an inspection. Texas officials found dead rodents and feces, and preliminary tests by a private lab indicated salmonella was present.

Wow, this is just getting ridiculous now.  Bill Marler also asks another great question - has anybody taken a look at their third plant in Virginia?

Peanut Criminals of America: Bankrupt!

by: Jill Richardson

Sat Feb 14, 2009 at 00:21:22 AM PST

PCA's declaration of bankruptcy will, among other things, shield it from liability suits filed by consumers who became sick or whose loved ones died as a result of eating PCA's peanut products.

Fortunately, it looks like lawyer superstar Bill Marler knows where to get the victims some justice.

Georgia Will Consider Charging Parnell, PCA With Manslaughter

by: JayinPhiladelphia

Fri Feb 13, 2009 at 01:35:19 AM PST

Georgia officials say they will consider charging the company and its CEO, Stewart Parnell, with manslaughter, if federal authorities do not.

First time I've heard anything about that.  Somebody had better!  How much more evidence do they need?  Manslaughter is the least Parnell should be charged with, imo...

The very next paragraph brings up another interesting question, which shouldn't even be a serious question at all -

But legal experts say the current food-contamination scandal will test the willingness of federal law enforcement officials to use handcuffs against Mr. Parnell and other allegedly rogue operators in a country with some 60,000 food-production factories.

How much more evidence is needed that this was a premeditated act?  It was a business decision on the part of Stewart Parnell and PCA to introduce food that they knew was contaminated with deadly bacteria into the food system.  Nine people have died as a direct result of that decision.  There's a word for that, and it ain't "business".

Why is it that Stewart Parnell and others like him are allowed to commit heinous crimes under the cover of the legal entity known as a corporation, and there are actually questions as to whether (or what) charges will be filed against the guy?

Was the key legal mistake of every murderer in prison right now that they failed to 'incorporate' before they killed people?

Ninth Salmonella Death Confirmed

by: JayinPhiladelphia

Thu Feb 12, 2009 at 12:08:07 PM PST

A second Ohio woman's death has been linked to peanut products from a Georgia plant now under fire for sending tainted food to manufacturers across the country.

An elderly woman from Medina County died after contracting Salmonella typhimurium, the strain of the bacteria associated with a nationwide outbreak that has prompted widespread food recalls, said Ohio Department of Health officials.

Out of the 9 deaths and over 600 reported sicknesses currently linked to this outbreak, 2 deaths and at least 90 sicknesses have so far been confirmed in Ohio.  Ohio leads the nation in confirmed cases.

In other peanut news today - for the families of PCA's victims, file this one under too little, too late -

The Senate Agriculture Committee unanimously approved a plan that would require food makers to alert state inspectors within 24 hours if a plant's internal tests show its products are contaminated.

[...]

"If this bill had been in place six months ago, a red flag would have been raised," said Republican state Sen. John Bulloch, the committee chairman and the measure's sponsor. "I think we could have identified this plant had a problem."

Food safety experts, government groups and industry lobbies say they don't know of any other state that requires food manufacturers to share internal data.

What have these 'regulators' been 'regulating' all along, anyway?