Peanut Executive Expected Today at House Hearings

A congressional committee on Tuesday subpoenaed the president of the company that owns the Georgia peanut plant linked to the national salmonella outbreak.

Stewart Parnell, president of Peanut Corp. of America, had been called to appear before the U.S. House Energy and Commerce Committee, as hearings opened today. But Parnell indicated he would not appear voluntarily and the committee voted Tuesday to issue a subpoena to compel his appearance.

The committee, headed by U.S. Rep. Henry Waxman (D-Calif.), is investigating the salmonella outbreak that has been traced to Peanut Corp.’s peanut processing plant in Blakely in southwest Georgia. The number of people sickened by the outbreak rose to 600, affecting 44 states and is possibly the cause of eight deaths, federal officials said Tuesday.

The outbreak has prompted one of the largest food recalls in history, with 1,844 products on the federal off-limits list.

“Hopefully, people are going to be held accountable,” said U.S. Rep. Bart Stupak (D-Mich.), chairman of the committee’s investigations panel.

Stupak says he wants to know how Peanut Corp. managed to sell allegedly tainted goods without triggering action by state and federal health authorities.

The family-owned company, now under FBI investigation, makes only a small percentage of U.S. peanut products. But its ingredients are used by dozens of other food companies.

Source: The Atlanta Journal-Constitution