BOB KEEFE/Cox Washington Bureau, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution (Jan. 31, 2009):
The president of the peanut company linked to a nationwide salmonella outbreak serves on an industry advisory board that helps the U.S. Department of Agriculture set quality standards for peanuts.
Stewart Parnell, president of Peanut Corp. of America, based in Lynchburg, Va., was first appointed to the USDA’s Peanut Standards Board in July 2005 and was reappointed in October for a second term that runs until June 2011, according to the USDA.
The outbreak of salmonella linked to peanut butter made at the Peanut Corp. of America plant in Blakely, Ga., has sickened more than 500 people in 43 states and may have caused the deaths of eight.
On Friday, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration said it is working with the Department of Justice on a criminal investigation of the Peanut Corp. of America.
The Georgia Bureau of Investigation also is looking into whether the company may have broken any state laws. . . .
The full story is available here.
