In January of 2009, Peanut Corporation of America shipped their peanut butter products, regardless of being tested positive for salmonella. Company owner Stewart Parnell, his brother Michael Parnell, Georgia plant manager Samuel Lightsey and Georgia plant quality assurance manager Mary Wilkerson were involved in the peanut butter salmonella outbreak. The outbreak was linked to more than seven hundred cases of salmonella poisoning in forty-six states, nine of which died, due to the outbreak. Less than twenty-fours after the recall Peanut Corporation of America filed for Chapter seven bankruptcy, and stopped all production permanently. Plants in Georgia and Texas were found to be less than up to par in regulations. Incidents include dead and live roaches, rats, mold and a leaky roof. Peanuts a dry product should not have wet surroundings, all of which is a call for salmonella. A federal jury convicted the Parnell brothers in Sept. 19, 2014, of multiple counts of conspiracy, mail and wire fraud and the sale of misbranded food. Stewart Parnell and Mary Wilkerson were also…show more content… Both Stewart Parnell and Samuel Lightsey plead the fifth for every question that was asked for them at their hearing, regardless of the content of the question. In the end pleading the fifth didn’t help because they were sentenced to twenty plus years in prison. This would make these people tortfeasers, they were involved in a tort. Which generally means the wrong they have done, has harmed another persons’, physical, emotional and in this case health of another. Personally to me, probably the most running issue in this case is the morals and ethics of this company. They had none. They chose greed over what was morally right. Not to mention any food corporation has a social responsibility to its people to protect them. In every business regardless of what they do or say, they have a responsibility to the
