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Statement of CSPI Senior Food Safety Attorney David Plunkett

September 21, 2015

The sentencing today of former Peanut Corporation of America owner Stewart Parnell and his co-defendants, variously convicted of fraud, conspiracy, obstruction of justice, and other charges, brings to an end the case that began following the massive 2008 Salmonella outbreak linked to PCA’s products.

To be sure, the long sentences handed down today will not bring back the nine Americans who died after eating contaminated peanut products that Parnell and his co-defendants knowingly marketed, nor will they retroactively undo the sicknesses and hospitalizations of those who survived. But they will send a very strong signal to food manufacturers that pursuing profits at the expense of food safety can bring the most severe of consequences.