Opinion: Peanut factory owner takes Fifth in salmonella case

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The House Energy and Commerce Committee, chaired by Rep. Henry Waxman (D-L.A.), had subpoenaed the owner of a peanut company blamed for a salmonella outbreak that has sickened 600 and killed eight people.

Stewart Parnell, who heads the Peanut Corp. of America, showed up this morning. But, with a criminal investigation underway, Parnell, ‘on the advice of my counsel,’ invoked his Fifth Amendment right not to incriminate himself.

Relatives did testify, describing the pain of watching family members grow ill after eating tainted peanut butter products manufactured by the company. Jeff Almer’s 72-year-old mother survived a bout with cancer only to be felled by Parnell’s peanut butter product. He said today he wants revenge. ‘I want to see jail time,’ he told the committee.

The controversy over what Parnell knew and when he knew it intensified today as the committee also released private e-mails in which Parnell complains about losing money and expresses frustration over delay in shipping products -- after the Food and Drug Administration identified his company as the source of the tainted peanut butter.

As Ticket reported last week, the case is fueling a campaign on Capitol Hill and in the White House to reform federal food safety oversight.

-- Johanna Neuman