Peanuts, The New Reality Show

C-Span has become top on my viewing list lately. I happened to catch part of the Congressional Hearings about salmonella and peanuts. Now, that's a reality show in the making. Money, cover-ups, and death all rolled into one.

On a recent Saturday, for several hours, I was appalled to hear private laboratory representatives explain how Peanut Corporation of America samples, taken prior to any deaths, had tested positive for salmonella. Based on the answers to very pointed questions from members of Congress, there appears to be no mechanism for this information to be reported to the FDA, unless PCA had chosen to submit it voluntarily.

Now, as we all know, the information didn't surface until nine people were dead. I listened to government officials explain how the lab results, paid for by PCA, are protected information. I don't know who was more amazed, the congressman asking the question, or me, when a USDA official explained that during an on-site inspection PCA personal were specifically asked if salmonella had be ever been found. The answer was that the question never was asked, nor is it on the form that is filled out during an inspection.

The PCA website states that "certain recent events have made it necessary" to file bankruptcy. That's a handy term. Do you think the families of nine people could use it? How about: "Certain recent events have made it necessary for us to bury a beloved family member."

But, the damage does not stop with funerals.

Ask Betsy Sanders of Santa Clara, California. She started Dough-To-Go 26 years ago with her son. They sell cookie dough to school groups for fundraisers. Like many of us, she's a small business person. Betsy is stuck with 2,500 pounds of PCA peanut butter that she can't use. The recalled product reimbursement has cost her $7,000.

And, that's not the end of the losses. Betsy's big seasonal sales start shortly. Dough-To-Go is sold to school groups for fundraisers, like marching bands or cheerleaders trying to raise money to buy uniforms or go on school trips. She has replaced the PCA product with new safe peanut butter. But, faced with fewer people buying extras this year, and the distrust in all-things peanut, her cookie dough could be a hard sale.

Watch your own quick dose of reality with a touch of comedy. During the House Hearing on Salmonella Outbreak, Rep. Greg Walden (R-Ore.) holds up a container of packages, some of which contain PCA peanut products. He offers to open it and asks PCA president Stewart Parnell and Sammy Lightsey, manger of the Blakely, Georgia, plant whether they would like a bite. They plead the 5th Ammendment.
http://www.c-span.org/Watch/watch.aspx?MediaId=HP-A-15319

Peanut Corporation of America will forever be known as the consummate Low Bidder.

- Debra L Ferguson