A CORPORATE DISASTER

Georgia company linked to salmonella forgot core values

The sickness and death caused by tainted peanut butter is of great concern, but the way this tragedy played out should also cause alarm about corporate judgment under pressure.

In September of 2008, the first hints of the latest salmonella food poisoning episode were being reported, but within three months the number of cases totaled 400 -- at least four resulting in deaths.

It was early January, when the Minnesota Department of Health first determined that the source of the salmonella was peanut butter and on Jan. 12, the Food and Drug Administration traced contaminated products to peanut butter paste manufactured in a Georgia plant owned by Peanut Corporation of America (PCA).

The next day, a PCA press release expressed "... deep regret that this has happened." And, that "out of an abundance of caution, we are voluntarily withdrawing this product and contacting our customers." To be sure, the PCA was "taking these actions with the safety of our consumers as our first priority."

On a Jan. 28 evening newscast, an Atlanta's TV station first reported that FDA documents indicated PCA officials knew their peanut butter contained salmonella bacteria and shipped it anyway.

By the last week in January, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported the number of cases had gone to 600 and at least nine people were dead.

The next week, a congressional committee released documents that appeared to show that PCA officials knew of at least 12 findings of salmonella bacteria in their peanut butter during 2007 and 2008, but still urged employees to move the product out to its customers.