Not just peanuts — the largest food safety-related fine in history

After admitting that it shipped contaminated Peter Pan and private label peanut butter during a 2006–2007 nationwide outbreak of salmonellosis, ConAgra Grocery Products has agreed to pay a criminal fine of $8 million and the forfeiture of $3.2 million of assets.

According to the US Department of Justice this fine is the largest in history for a food safety case.

In 2007, an ongoing outbreak of salmonellosis cases across the US was traced to Peter Pan and private label peanut butter produced at ConAgra Grocery Products’ Sylvester, Georgia, plant. Although no deaths were related to the salmonellosis outbreak, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) identified more than 700 incidents of disease linked to the outbreak with illness onset dates beginning in August 2006. The CDC also estimated that thousands of other cases went unreported.

The US Food and Drug Administration and the CDC first announced in February 2007 that an ongoing outbreak of salmonellosis cases in the United States could be traced to Peter Pan and private label peanut butter produced at the company’s plant. The company voluntarily terminated production at the plant on 14 February 2007 and recalled all peanut butter manufactured there since January 2004.

It has since transpired that the company was aware of Salmonella in samples of finished peanut butter as early as October 2004. In attempting to locate the cause of the contamination, company employees identified several potential contributing factors:

• An old peanut roaster that was not uniformly heating raw peanuts.
• A storm-damaged sugar silo.
• A leaky roof that allowed moisture into the plant.
• Airflow that could allow potential contaminants to move around the plant.

While some attempts at rectification of these problems were undertaken, all of these conditions were not corrected until after the 2006/7 salmonellosis outbreak.

This background forced ConAgra into a plea agreement with the federal court. In pleading guilty to violating the federal Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act, the company admitted that it introduced Peter Pan and private label peanut butter contaminated with Salmonella into interstate commerce during the salmonellosis outbreak and so accepted the largest food safety-related fine in history.