The parties suing the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for its failure to meet several deadlines laid out in the Food Safety Modernization Act got discouraging news at a hearing last week when a federal judge said she might not be able to make FDA quicken its pace. The case was filed last August in… Continue Reading
The 52-page Grand Jury indictment of Stewart and Michael Parnell, Samuel Lightsey and Mary Wilkerson tells us a lot more than we knew about now-liquidated Peanut Corporation of America (PCA). The indictment of the four former PCA officials marks a new chapter in the four-year-old drama. It turns to a new page, one involving conspiracy… Continue Reading
The Peanut Corporation of America shut down in 2009 after a massive outbreak of Salmonella Typhimurium linked to its products left the company bankrupt. Evidence that company officials knowingly released contaminated product onto the marketplace first surfaced in February of 2009 following an investigation by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. Now, four years later,… Continue Reading
The now-defunct Westland/Hallmark Meat Co. sparked the largest-ever meat recall after egregious, undercover abuse footage was made public in 2008 and now the company has sparked the largest-ever judgement for an animal abuse case. On Friday, the Humane Society of the United States announced it had reached a partial settlement with two of the nine… Continue Reading
Everything I know about the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ), I learned from a U.S. District Attorney for Idaho years ago. He was, I think, taken aback by how little this then-recent J-School, Political Science graduate knew about our federal justice system. Actually, I knew enough about the the third branch of government. … Continue Reading
Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy (D-VT) sent a letter Tuesday to the Department of Justice inquiring about the status of the department’s investigation into Peanut Corporation of America (PCA), the company implicated in a massive product recall and Salmonella outbreak in 2008 and 2009. Thousands of products were recalled, hundreds were sickened across the… Continue Reading
Tyson Foods Inc.–one of the world’s largest processors and marketers of chicken, beef and pork products–agreed to pay a $4 million criminal penalty to resolve an investigation into improper payments by company representatives to government-employed inspection veterinarians in Mexico. The announcement was made Thursday by Assistant Attorney General Lanny Breuer of the Criminal Division and… Continue Reading
FORT COLLINS, CO–The joint Department of Justice/USDA workshop that was held here was a day-long demonstration of how rural America’s views are widely differing when it comes to whether there is too much private contracting going on in the marketing and production of livestock and poultry. The idea of government getting between producers and packers… Continue Reading
Early Sunday morning in Fort Collins, CO, police got to try out their tear gas and mobile field-in-force tactics after fights broke out after a Bohemian Nights concert. Before the riot was over, fires were started, windows were smashed, and 14 people were injured. All that should be cleaned up by Friday when US Attorney… Continue Reading
The U.S. Department of Justice announced this week that it is seeking a permanent injunction against NY Gourmet Salads, Inc., on behalf of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. The Brooklyn, NY-based processor of ready-to-eat deli salads, seafood salads, and cream cheeses and the company president, Leonard F. Spada, were charged with violating the… Continue Reading
JBS USA and the Department of Justice (DOJ) reached a settlement last week over one of the company’s plants’ alleged failure to comply with the Clean Water Act and the Pennsylvania Clean Streams Law, which government officials say caused major fish kills in Pennsylvania waterways. The agreement requires JBS, which purchased the facility from Smithfield… Continue Reading