In a groundbreaking sentencing, a peanut executive has been sentenced to 28 years in prison due to knowingly shipping salmonella tainted peanut butter to consumers. Furthermore, 61-year-old, Stewart Parnell received the harshest penalty ever to be placed on an executive due to a food poisoning outbreak.
Parnell is the CEO of Peanut Corporation of America (PCA) and along with his sentencing, his brother; Michael also received a 20 year sentence as well. Mary Wilkerson, the plant’s quality assurance manager received 5 years in connection with the salmonella peanut butter.
Likewise, Parnell was convicted of 72 counts of fraud and conspiracy due to the 2008 deadly salmonella outbreak which was linked to PCA. Overall, nine people were killed, and over 714 people sickened throughout 46 states as it was the largest salmonella outbreak in American food history. Sadly, the PCA product was distributed all over from airlines to restaurants.
According to the FDA, each year out of 48 million people, one out of six is sickened due to food illnesses. Likewise, more than 100,000 people are hospitalized from food illness and 3,000 die from infections which are highly preventable.
Salmonella is the leading cause of food borne illness in American, and each year the bacterium sickens more than 1.4 million people. As of late, the cucumbers sickened 418 people in 31 states, and killed one due to salmonella.
If you or a loved one is in need of a consumer safety attorney, we can help. Please contact the skilled St. Louis personal injury attorneys at Meyerkord & Kurth today for a free consultation.