This article needs additional citations for verification .(April 2024) |
Company type | Private |
---|---|
Industry | Peanut processing |
Founded | 1977 |
Defunct | February 13, 2009 |
Fate | Filed for chapter 7 bankruptcy as a result of the 2009 Peanut Corporation of America recall |
Headquarters | , United States |
Key people |
|
Products | Peanut butter, peanut paste, peanut meal, whole and chopped peanuts |
Revenue | $25 million (2007) |
Owner | Stewart Parnell |
Number of employees | 90 (2007) |
Website | www.peanutcorp.com |
Footnotes /references [1] |
Peanut Corporation of America (PCA) was a peanut-processing business which is now defunct as a result of one of the most massive and lethal food-borne contamination events in U.S. history. [2]
PCA was founded in 1977 and initially run by Hugh Parnell, father of Stewart Parnell, with him and two other sons. The company was sold in 1994–1995 with the senior Parnell retiring, and with Stewart Parnell and others remaining with the new company as consultants. In 2000, PCA returned to Stewart Parnell via a private sale. Over this history, PCA came to operate processing facilities in Blakely, Georgia, Suffolk, Virginia, and Plainview, Texas, providing peanut and peanut butter products [3] primarily to the "institutional food" market (schools, prisons and nursing homes), to food manufacturers for use in cookies, snacks, ice cream, and dog treats, and to other markets.
By 2007, prior to closing its doors, PCA had grown to 90 employees and was doing $25 million in annual sales. It has been estimated to have been manufacturing roughly 2.5% of processed peanuts in the U.S. at that time.
PCA permanently halted its operations after it was found to be the source of a massive Salmonella outbreak in the U.S., during late 2008 and early 2009. The 2008 contamination followed a long history of food quality issues. There had been concerns about sanitation at the company since at least the mid-1980s, when the company was run by its founder, Stewart Parnell's father, Hugh Parnell. In addition, in the years just prior to its sale and Hugh Parnell's retirement, PCA was sued: by American Candy Company in 1990, and by Zachary Confections Inc. of Frankfort, Indiana in 1991, after discovery that PCA's peanut products exceeded the FDA tolerance level for aflatoxin, a mold-derived toxin common to peanuts. Moreover, as a result of the coming contamination event, investigations would show that some PCA processing was being done without FDA knowledge and oversight, and other food handling and processing areas had gone long periods without federal inspection.
In late 2008 and early 2009, as a result of the Salmonella contamination event, nine people died and at least 714 people fell ill, all from food poisoning after eating products containing contaminated peanuts. This contamination triggered the most extensive food recall in U.S. history up to that time, involving 46 states, more than 360 companies, and more than 3,900 different products manufactured using PCA ingredients. The contamination and recall had immediate major ramifications for the market of this set of farm products. On February 13, 2009, Peanut Corporation of America ceased all manufacturing and business operations, and filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy liquidation. As of February 2009, a federal criminal investigation was continuing, and at least a dozen civil lawsuits had been filed. In September 2015, Stewart Parnell was sentenced to 28 years in federal prison for his role in the nationwide outbreak. Stewart's brother, Michael Parnell, was sentenced 20 years in prison.
Hugh Parnell Sr. founded Parnell's Peanuts, in Gorman, Texas in 1977 [4] selling to consumers, bakeries and manufacturers (candy, ice cream, and snacks). In 1990 the FDA found PCA distributing peanuts with high levels of aflatoxins, caused by mold that grows in nuts and seeds. In 1992 the American Candy Company sued PCA for lost inventory that had used PCA nuts contaminated with aflatoxins. The company was sold in 1994–1995, with the senior Parnell retiring, and with Stewart Parnell and others remaining with the new company as consultants. [5] In 2000, control of PCA returned to Stewart Parnell via a private sale. [6] Over its history, PCA came to operate processing facilities in Blakely, Georgia, Suffolk, Virginia, and Plainview, Texas, [6] providing peanuts, peanut butter, peanut meal, and peanut paste to an institutional food market[ citation needed ]—to schools, prisons, and nursing homes [ citation needed ]—as well as to low-budget retail outlets such as dollar stores [7] and to food manufacturers for use in cookies, snacks, ice cream, and dog treats.[ citation needed ] It has been estimated to have been manufacturing roughly 2.5 percent of processed peanuts in the U.S. at its height, [8] with 90 employees and $25 million in annual sales in 2007. [1] The company filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy and permanently halted its processing and sales operations, after being found to be the source of a massive Salmonella outbreak in the United States beginning in 2008. [9]
In late 2008 and early 2009, nine people died and at least 714 people fell ill due to food poisoning from eating products containing contaminated peanuts supplied by the Peanut Corporation of America (PCA). [10] The real numbers were believed to be much higher, since for every reported case of salmonellosis, on average, another 38 or so cases went unreported, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). [11] A combination of epidemiological analysis and laboratory testing by state officials in Minnesota and Connecticut, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the CDC confirmed that the sources of the outbreak of illnesses caused by Salmonella typhimurium were peanut butter, peanut paste, and peanut meal produced by the PCA at its Blakely, Georgia, processing plant. [12]
On February 7, 2009, Oregon officials confirmed the first case of salmonellosis in a dog that had eaten biscuits contaminated with the PCA-produced peanut products. [13]
In January 2009, the company issued a statement categorically denying the allegations; [14] [15] [16] in that same month, it shut down production and laid off 50 employees at the Blakely plant. [17] [18] [19]Peanut Corporation of America was founded and originally owned by Hugh Parnell, father of Stewart Parnell, [6] but by the time of the contamination scandal had passed to Stewart as sole owner, [6] [20] and as president and CEO of the company. [21]
Hugh Parnell started in the peanut business with Stewart Parnell and his two younger brothers in 1977; they took a struggling, $50,000-a-year peanut roasting operation and turned it into a $30 million business before selling the business in 1994–1995, after which Stewart Parnell continued on as a consultant until re-buying the Gorman, Texas, plant in 2000. [6] [5] In 2001, he bought the Blakely, Georgia, operation, when its operations consisted only of roasting and blanching peanuts. [22] Parnell tripled revenue at the Blakely plant by 2004, turning its first profit in 15 years, [8] with production regularly surpassing 2.5 million pounds of peanuts per month. [23] However, the FDA did not know that the plant manufactured peanut butter until the 2008-2009 outbreak. [22]
The Parnells ran PCA on a very tight budget.[ citation needed ] The company under Hugh Parnell operated a bare-bones front office and used minimum-wage labor, [6] a style that was continued by Stewart Parnell, who ran PCA from a converted garage behind his home in an upscale suburb outside of Lynchburg, Virginia, and continued to rely on minimum-wage labor. [6]
Despite more than 12 tests between 2007 and 2008 that showed Salmonella contamination in his company's products, Parnell wrote an email to company employees on January 12, 2009, that stated, "We have never found any salmonella at all. No salmonella has been found anywhere in our products or in our plants." [24] [25] Parnell ordered products identified with Salmonella to be shipped and complained that tests discovering the contaminated food were "costing us huge $$$$$." In a June 2008 email exchange, Parnell complained to a worker after being notified that Salmonella had been found in more products. "I go thru this about once a week," he wrote. "I will hold my breath ... again." [25] After the company was identified as the source of the outbreak, Parnell pressed federal regulators to allow him to continue using peanuts from the tainted plant. He wrote that company executives "desperately at least need to turn the raw peanuts on our floor into money." [24]
In 2015, Food Republic produced and aired Food Crimes: "P.B. & Jail." [26]
On July 3, 2017, CNBC aired an episode of American Greed: "From Peanuts to Sick Millions” [Documentary / Crime]. Season ll, Episode AG 141. [27] [28]
The peanut, also known as the groundnut, goober (US), goober pea, pindar (US) or monkey nut (UK), is a legume crop grown mainly for its edible seeds. It is widely grown in the tropics and subtropics by small and large commercial producers, both as grain legume and as an oil crop. Atypically among legumes, peanut pods develop underground leading botanist Carl Linnaeus to name peanuts hypogaea, which means "under the earth".
Peanut butter is a food paste or spread made from ground, dry-roasted peanuts. It commonly contains additional ingredients that modify the taste or texture, such as salt, sweeteners, or emulsifiers. Consumed in many countries, it is the most commonly used of the nut butters, a group that also includes cashew butter and almond butter.
Foodborne illness is any illness resulting from the contamination of food by pathogenic bacteria, viruses, or parasites, as well as prions, and toxins such as aflatoxins in peanuts, poisonous mushrooms, and various species of beans that have not been boiled for at least 10 minutes.
Conagra Brands, Inc. is an American consumer packaged goods holding company headquartered in Chicago, Illinois. Conagra makes and sells products under various brand names that are available in supermarkets, restaurants, and food service establishments. Based on its 2021 revenue, the company ranked 331st on the 2022 Fortune 500.
A product recall is a request from a manufacturer to return a product after the discovery of safety issues or product defects that might endanger the consumer or put the maker or seller at risk of legal action. Product recalls are one of a number of corrective actions that can be taken for products that are deemed to be unsafe.
Jif is an American brand of peanut butter made by The J.M. Smucker Company, which purchased the brand from Procter & Gamble in 2001.
Salmonellosis is a symptomatic infection caused by bacteria of the Salmonella type. It is the most common disease to be known as food poisoning, these are defined as diseases, usually either infectious or toxic in nature, caused by agents that enter the body through the ingestion of food. In humans, the most common symptoms are diarrhea, fever, abdominal cramps, and vomiting. Symptoms typically occur between 12 hours and 36 hours after exposure, and last from two to seven days. Occasionally more significant disease can result in dehydration. The old, young, and others with a weakened immune system are more likely to develop severe disease. Specific types of Salmonella can result in typhoid fever or paratyphoid fever. Typhoid fever and paratyphoid fever are specific types of salmonellosis, known collectively as enteric fever, and are, respectively, caused by salmonella typhi and paratyphi bacteria, which are only found in humans. Most commonly, salmonellosis cases arise from salmonella bacteria from animals, and chicken is a major source for these infections.
Nutrilite is a brand of mineral, vitamin, and dietary supplements developed in 1934 by Carl F. Rehnborg. Nutrilite products are currently manufactured by Access Business Group, a subsidiary of Alticor whose products are sold via Amway worldwide. The Nutrilite brand is known as Nutriway in Denmark, Finland, Norway, Sweden, Turkey, Australia and New Zealand.
Peanut paste is a product of peanuts used in sauces, cookies, crackers, breakfast cereals and ice cream.
The 2006 North American E. coli outbreak was an Escherichia coli O157:H7 outbreak from prepackaged spinach. The outbreak occurred in September 2006, and its origin was an Angus cattle ranch that had leased land to a spinach grower. At least 276 consumer illnesses and 3 deaths have been attributed as a result from the outbreak.
Castleberry's Food Company is an Augusta, Georgia-based canned food company founded in the 1920s by Clement Stewart Castleberry with the help of his father Clement Lamar Castleberry and closed in March 2008 by the United States Food and Drug Administration until Hanover Foods bought the rights to Castleberry's food and name.
Pasteurized eggs are eggs that have been pasteurized in order to reduce the risk of foodborne illness in dishes that are not cooked or are only lightly cooked. They may be sold as liquid egg products or pasteurized in the shell.
The 2012 outbreak of Salmonella took place in 15 places worldwide with over 2,300 strains identified.
Sunland, Inc., was a production plant established in 1988 located in Portales, New Mexico, in the United States. Sunland was the nation's largest organic peanut butter processor. The company produced at least 240 products. The company used Valencia peanuts in its products.
Food safety in Australia concerns the production, distribution, preparation, and storage of food in Australia to prevent foodborne illness, also known as food safety. Food Standards Australia New Zealand is responsible for developing food standards for Australia and New Zealand.
Salmonellosis annually causes, per CDC estimation, about 1.2 million illnesses, 23,000 hospitalizations, and 450 deaths in the United States every year.
Food safety in the United States relates to the processing, packaging, and storage of food in a way that prevents food-borne illness within the United States. The beginning of regulation on food safety in the United States started in the early 1900s, when several outbreaks sparked the need for litigation managing food in the food industry. Over the next few decades, the United States created several government agencies in an effort to better understand contaminants in food and to regulate these impurities. Many laws regarding food safety in the United States have been created and amended since the beginning of the 1900s. Food makers and their products are inspected and regulated by the Food and Drug Administration and the Department of Agriculture.
In late 2008 and early 2009, nine people died and at least 714 people fell ill due to food poisoning from eating products containing contaminated peanuts supplied by the Peanut Corporation of America (PCA). The real numbers were believed to be much higher, since for every reported case of salmonellosis, on average, another 38 or so cases went unreported, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). A combination of epidemiological analysis and laboratory testing by state officials in Minnesota and Connecticut, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the CDC confirmed that the sources of the outbreak of illnesses caused by Salmonella typhimurium were peanut butter, peanut paste, and peanut meal produced by the PCA at its Blakely, Georgia, processing plant.
{{cite journal}}
: Cite journal requires |journal=
(help)CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)