ALBANY, GA—United States of America v. Stewart Parnell et al began 346 weeks ago when food safety cops on the beat first identified an unusual multistate cluster of Salmonella Typhimurium. It would become the most deadly outbreak of foodborne illness experienced in the 21st century so far and among
Continue Reading Deaths Linked to PCA Peanut Butter May Finally Be Talked About in Open Court
Dr. Ian Williams
Letter From the Editor: Week Six of the PCA Trial
This past Thursday, a juror in the criminal trial of three former Peanut Corporation of America (PCA) executives became ill about two hours into the court session. Judge W. Louis Sands opted to send the entire jury home and adjourned the U.S. District Court of the Middle District of Georgia…
Continue Reading Letter From the Editor: Week Six of the PCA Trial
Judge Must Decide: Does CDC Status Qualify Someone as an ‘Expert Witness’?
A “Daubert” hearing for Dr. Ian Williams, chief of the Outbreak Response and Prevention Branch at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), was held Tuesday at the federal courthouse in Albany, GA. The hearing, which lasted less than two hours, was held to decide if Williams, one…
Continue Reading Judge Must Decide: Does CDC Status Qualify Someone as an ‘Expert Witness’?
Defense Attorneys for Former PCA Executives Allege Government Misconduct
Defense attorneys in the criminal prosecution of former Peanut Corporation of America (PCA) executives are charging that the document dumps they’ve been receiving from prosecutors lately amount to government misconduct. With only one week to go before jury selection is supposed to begin in the fraud and conspiracy case against…
Continue Reading Defense Attorneys for Former PCA Executives Allege Government Misconduct
Defense Again Raises Possibility of Separate Trials for Parnell Brothers
In prosecuting the former executives of Peanut Corporation of America (PCA), government attorneys are going for convictions that, for the first time, could put defendants in a foodborne illness case behind prison bars. Rarely do food executives responsible for products causing sickness and death face criminal charges, and those who…
Continue Reading Defense Again Raises Possibility of Separate Trials for Parnell Brothers
CDC Update: 50 New Cases of Salmonella Heidelberg Linked to Foster Farms Chicken
Another 50 illnesses from Salmonella Heidelberg have been reported in connection with chicken from Foster Farms. The outbreak may not be over yet, but the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) sees the numbers trending downward — something they view with a “glass half-full” mentality. CDC’s latest update…
Continue Reading CDC Update: 50 New Cases of Salmonella Heidelberg Linked to Foster Farms Chicken