Our regulatory system, which should serve as a safety net for the public, has apparently turned into a hammock for some in the food industry. Congressional hearings this week on the Peanut Butter outbreak again demonstrated that regulatory agencies are simply not getting the job done. During the hearing , the President of Peanut Corporation of America (PCA) refused to testify and when offered his own product, refused to eat it. He appeared before the House Energy & Commerce Committee where E-mails revealed a disturbing pattern of placing profits over safety and ignoring reports showing their product was contaminated with salmonella. One document indicated that on January 12th, just one day before PCA’s first recall, the President told his employees that they had never found any salmonella and blamed the news media for creating a stir. We now know that was categorically incorrect and thousands have needlessly suffered as a result of this reckless behavior. Hopefully the congressional spotlight will help improve this systemic problem.
Richard J. Arsenault, 2011
