Peanut company executives refuse to talk

Peanut Recall

WASHINGTON -- The president of Lynchburg-based Peanut Corp. of America, accused of knowingly distributing salmonella-tainted peanut products, cited the Fifth Amendment yesterday in refusing to answer questions of a congressional panel.

Stewart Parnell invoked his constitutional right not to incriminate himself after he was subpoenaed by the investigations panel of the House Energy and Commerce Committee.

Sammy Lightsey, manager of the Blakely, Ga., plant where investigators believe the contaminated peanut butter originated, also refused to testify.

Both men were dismissed after saying they intended to answer every question the same way. Parnell, Lightsey and their lawyers refused to answer questions from reporters afterward.

The salmonella outbreak has sickened at least 600 people and possibly contributed to the deaths of nine other people. Investigators have linked the outbreak to Peanut Corp. products that were sent to 50 manufacturers of cookies, crackers and ice cream.

Darlene Cowart of JLA USA testing service told the investigators yesterday that the company contacted her in November 2006 to help control salmonella discovered in the plant.

Cowart said she made one visit to the plant at the company's request and pointed out problems with peanut roasting and storage of peanuts that could have led to the salmonella. She testified that Peanut Corp. officials said they believed the salmonella came from organic Chinese peanuts.

An FDA inspection report had placed the earliest presence of salmonella in June 2007, the first of a dozen times the company received private lab results identifying the bacteria in its products.

Cowart said she believed Peanut Corp. stopped using her company for lab tests because it identified salmonella too many times.

The FDA has said the company shipped products that tested positive for salmonella 12 times beginning in 2007. In some cases, Peanut Corp. received a second test that came back negative before shipping, the report said. In others, product was shipped after testing positive but before results were in from a second test.

After he was informed of a positive test for salmonella in September 2008, Parnell wrote in an e-mail the tests were "costing us huge $$$$$ and causing obviously a huge lapse in time from the time we pick up peanut until the time we can invoice."

In August 2008, Parnell instructed Lightsey "let's turn them loose then," after a sample that tested positive for salmonella later tested negative.

The FDA's findings triggered a recall of more than 1,900 food and pet food products.

The hearing was an attempt to determine what went wrong and how to improve food safety.

Committee Chairman Henry A. Waxman, D-Calif., said the internal Peanut Corp. e-mails showed the company cared more about its bottom line than about customers.

Contact Amy Dominello at 202-662-7671 or .

The Associated Press contributed to this report.