Personal Injury Law

Updated Again - Salmonella Peanut Butter Deaths - Ohio Counts 4, Minnesota 3, Virginia 2, Idaho 1 and North Carolina 1

By Bill Marler, Esq.

It is likely that bird or rat feces in the Peanut Corporation of America peanut butter started all of this.  There is the ever-expanding list of Salmonella free products.  The FDA list of products containing tainted peanut butter continues to grow as does the list of the deaths.  This morning Ohio reported four deaths linked to Salmonella-tainted peanut butter.  Yesterday, Minnesota reported three deaths.  Before that, Virginia, Idaho and North Carolina had reported a total of four deaths.  By my math that adds up to eleven people killed by eating peanut butter - eating peanut butter for goodness sake.  However, the CDC reports only seven deaths - so far. 

Weeks ago I asked the CDC, FDA, King Nut and Peanut Corporation of America to respond to the following, however, there still has been limited, or no, response to my To Do List.

1. Make sure ALL product is promptly recalled;?

2. Do not destroy any documents;?

3. The companies should pay the medical bills and all related expenses of the innocent victims and their families;?

4. The companies should pay the cost of all related Health Department, CDC and FDA investigations;?

5. Provide all bacterial and viral testing of all recalled product and any other tested product (before and after recall);?

6. Release all inspection reports on the plants by any Governmental Entity or Third-party Auditor;?

7. Release all Salmonella safety precautions taken by either King Nut or Peanut Corporation of America - especially after the 2007 Salmonella Peanut Butter Outbreak;?

8. Provide the public with the Epidemiological investigation (with names redacted), so it is clear who knew what and when about the likely source of the outbreak; and,?

9. Show the public what is being done to prevent the next outbreak.

Where is the Corporate and Governmental responsibility to the people?

Full post as published by Marler Blog on January 24, 2009 (boomark / email).