On August 18, 2010, a Federal magistrate in Western Virginia will hear motions to approve the distribution of $12,000,000 among 122 salmonella claimants as part of a global settlement with Peanut Corporation of America (“PCA”). PCA manufactured peanut butter and peanut paste that poisoned over 714 people and killed nine in a Salmonella Typhimurium outbreak in 2008-2009. The contaminated peanut butter and peanut paste was manufactured by PCA at its peanut processing plants in Blakely, Georgia and Plainview, Texas. The vast majority of the victims consumed Austin or Keebler brand crackers or King Nut peanut butter, which contained the contaminated PCA peanut paste.
The Salmonella Peanut Butter Outbreak
Health officials at the Center for Disease Control (CDC), Food and Drug Administration (FDA), and numerous state agencies identified peanut butter and peanut paste manufactured by Peanut Corporation of America (PCA) as the source of Salmonella Typhimurium that poisoned over 714 people and killed nine in a salmonella outbreak that began on or about September 1, 2008. The contaminated peanut butter and peanut paste was manufactured by Peanut Corporation of America (”PCA”) at its peanut processing plants in Blakely, Georgia and Plainview, Texas.
Ron Simon Breaks the Story with Shocking Investigative Video
Upon being contacted by numerous sickened individuals, the salmonella lawyers at Simon & Luke immediately began investigating the outbreak in conjunction with federal and state officials. On April 22 and 23, 2009, Ron Simon of Simon & Luke led a team of photographers and experts into PCA’s manufacturing plants in Texas and Georgia. His inspections revealed rats, insects, roaches, standing water and roof leaks inside the plants. The original footage of the inspection was featured on NBC, CNN, ABC, and CBS nationwide.
Both of PCA’s peanut butter plants have been closed, and PCA is no longer in business.
What is Salmonella Typhimurium, and how dangerous is it?
The genus Salmonella is subdivided into 50 serogroups (A, B, C1, C2, D, E, etc), which are further subdivided into over 2500 serotypes. Of these serotypes, Salmonella Typhimurium is the most common and accounts for approximately 20% of all salmonella infections in the United States every year.
Salmonella bacteria live in the intestinal tracts of many animals, and the bacteria is often found in these animals’ feces. Salmonella is transmitted to humans who unknowingly consume food contaminated with the feces. Typical food contamination occurs when rats, mice, birds, or other animals infiltrate food production plants (like PCA’s Georgia and Texas plants) and leave their droppings on raw or finished product which eventually finds its way to consumers’ tables.
Persons who consume the bacteria typically experience severe vomiting, diarrhea, fever, and abdomen pain. They usually recover in about a week. Children and the elderly are the most susceptible to a more severe infection, which can lead to dehydration, renal failure, extended hospitalizations, Reiter’s Syndrome, and even death. For more information about salmonella, click here.
In the current outbreak, the lawyers at Simon & Luke found an unusually high number of hospitalizations and severe cases even among normally healthy adults. This shows that the Salmonella Typhimurium strains found in the contaminated peanut butter were particularly potent – as further evidenced by the nine deaths attributed to the outbreak.
Austin and Keebler Peanut Butter Crackers Are the Primary Outbreak Vehicle
PCA distributed the contaminated peanut butter products in two ways: through the sale of raw peanut paste to hundreds of companies like Kellogg Company, and through peanut butter sold under the King Nut peanut butter label.
While PCA’s contaminated peanut butter and peanut paste were distributed to numerous companies for use as ingredients in over 3100 products, peanut butter crackers were determined to be the primary food vehicle for this outbreak.
Over 95% of the known Salmonella Typhimurium illnesses arose from the consumption of Austin and Keebler brand peanut butter crackers (cheese crackers with peanut butter and toasty crackers with peanut butter), both of which are manufactured by Kellogg Company. Those crackers were manufactured with PCA’s peanut paste. Several batches of these crackers collected from victims’ homes (including those represented by Simon & Luke) have tested positive for Salmonella Typhimurium.
PCA’s raw peanut butter was sold under the King Nut brand label (owned by Kanan Enterprises, Inc.) to nursing homes, cafeterias, schools, and colleges where those most susceptible to salmonella poisoning — children and the elderly — were likely to have consumed the contaminated product. Health officials detected numerous “clusters” of individuals that contracted salmonella poisoning at nursing homes across the United States. Those nursing homes served King Nut peanut butter to their residents.
The Peanut Butter Salmonella Outbreak Sickens over 714 people and kills 9
As a result of the outbreak, over 714 people infected with Salmonella Typhimurium were reported from 46 states and Canada. Illnesses began on September 1, 2008. Patients ranged in age from <1 to 98 years. Among persons with available information, 24% reported being hospitalized. Nine deaths were reported. A map illustrating the distribution of illnesses in the United States is shown below:
Ron Simon Featured in Numerous Media Reports as he Pursues Claims for Salmonella Victims
From one of hundreds of media reports on the outbreak:
”I’ve seen a lot of egregious behavior by corporations as a way to profit but I have never seen anything like this,” says attorney Ron Simon. Last week, Simon, who represents more than 50 families in the national peanut butter salmonella outbreak questioned Peanut Corp. of America (PCA) President Stewart Parnell and his daughter, Grey Adams. “Parnell has exhibited complete disdain for his customers and the law,” Simon adds.
Simon was the only trial lawyer present at the 341 bankruptcy hearing to ask the PCA officials about their debts and assets and more. A 341 bankruptcy hearing is a chance for the trustee to get clarification of the debtor’s debts and credits; it is also an opportunity for any creditor to also ask questions about any assets and liabilities. “I asked Parnell and his daughter, who was also the PCA accountant, about the insurance policies that are available to pay my clients for personal injury and death,” says Simon. “Grey Adams confirmed they have a $12,000,000 insurance policy insured by the Hartford Insurance company.”
Not only did Simon confirm the insurance policy; Grey also said that PCA had spent $60,000 in August 2008 to repair a leaky roof in the plant. “That is significant because the only way that you can get salmonella is to consume food that has bird or animal feces in it,” explains Simon, “and the primary vehicle for getting feces into the peanut butter is for water to mix with feces and drip into peanut butter.”
Apparently, the roof was so bad it was causing leaks throughout the plant. Incredibly, that is exactly what happened two years ago with the ConAgra peanut butter outbreak. “Two years ago every peanut butter company in the world knew they had better not have a leaky roof,” says Simon.
Why did PCA allow its facilities to become so rundown and jeopardize consumer safety? Simon says it profited PCA to be that way. “Instead of putting money into safety measures such as a better roof and better sanitation measures and routine monitoring of the peanut roaster, PCA purchased a corporate jet and flew its people to places as far away as Morocco,” says Simon. “This is a peanut company in Georgia!”
The PCA officials also confirmed that they spent over $250,000 on criminal defense lawyers and PR firms after the recall but they have not spent one penny to compensate the victims of the outbreak. “When I questioned Parnell about what was going on in that plant in 2007 and 2008, for the first time ever in a legal setting, he pled the 5th amendment in order not to incriminate himself,” says Simon.
By September 1st people started getting sick from salmonella. Simon says the roof was already leaking bird feces before it was repaired, so the contaminated product is already out the door—like closing the barn door after the horse has bolted.
But wait, it gets worse: “They knowingly shipped 12 batches of peanuts that had tested positive for salmonella,” says Simon. “The contaminated product was shipped to nursing homes, school cafeterias, grocery stores and wholesale outlets.”
According to the FDA (who later investigated the plant and found documents), PCA hired two independent labs to test the peanuts—they tested positive for salmonella. But after the outbreak, Stewart Parnell sent an email to his employees stating that PCA peanuts had never tested positive for salmonella (the agency also found Parnell’s emails).
“This guy has a rat hole of a plant with a roof leaking like a sieve and instead of putting profits back into the plant, he buys a corporate jet,” says Simon, fuming. “When he gets caught, he lies to his employees about the peanuts testing positive.
Meetings with the Hartford Insurance Company, Kellogg Company, and Kanan Enterprises, Inc.
In order to secure funds for the victims, Ron Simon (along with two other attorneys representing the victims) had several in person meetings (in Lynchburg and Chicago) with representatives of Hartford Insurance company (PCA’s insurer), Kellogg Company, and Kanan Enterprises, Inc.
Hartford initially attempted to take the position that their product liability insurance policies did not cover plaintiffs’ claims because plaintiffs were the victims of an intentional act – i.e. that Stuart Parnell (PCA’s owner) purposefully shipped salmonella-contaminated products. There were several company emails to support this position.
Eventually, the lawyers were able to negotiate – after several in person and phone sessions – the following deal: that Hartford would drop their coverage defenses and buy back all of their insurance policies for $12,000,000, which would be put into a fund for only personal injury claimants sickened by salmonella. Kellogg and Kanan would waive their property damage claims and any right to monies from the fund. The fund would be distributed by a qualifying process run by the bankruptcy court in which PCA had filed.
Simon & Luke Files Peanut Butter Salmonella Claims
For those sickened in the outbreak, there were two potential sources of payment for salmonella claims:
1. A fund of $12,000,000 to pay all qualified claims, set aside in Peanut Corporation of America’s bankruptcy proceedings in Virginia; and
2. Funds from Kellogg Company and Kanan Enterprises, Inc. – the manufacturers / distributors of the Austin and Keebler peanut butter crackers and King Nut peanut butter.
During September and October of 2009, the salmonella lawyers at Simon & Luke prepared the necessary claims packets for all salmonella clients. Those packets were filed in the bankruptcy court and consisted of the following: Salmonella Claim Form, Claim Summary, photos, medical records, medical bills, lost wage forms, proof of purchase, health department records, and expert reports.
The bankruptcy court appointed special counsel to review all timely filed claims (from law firms all over the United States and Canada), to determine (1) which claims qualified for payment, and (2) values for each individual claim. Of the 150+ claims filed, only 122 met the claims criteria for payment. All claims submitted by Simon & Luke qualified for payment from the bankruptcy fund.
What do I do If I have a Salmonella Claim? ACT NOW – it is not too late!
For those victims who have not yet filed a claim, it is not too late to recover your share of settlement funds – which represent payment for all medical bills, hospital bills, prescriptions, lost wages, and the pain and suffering you and your loved ones endured.
If you contracted salmonella after consuming Austin or Keebler brand crackers or King Nut peanut butter, please contact the salmonella lawyers at Simon & Luke so you too can collect your salmonella settlements from the responsible parties.
You should not wait to assert your claim – you must begin the process immediately. Properly preparing a qualified claim takes a substantial amount of time and requires collection of numerous medical records, medical bills, health department records, pay stubs, and other materials to substantiate your claim, along with the preparation of numerous forms and securing the written opinion of a qualified epidemiologist in certain cases.
Persons who tested positive for salmonella after consuming peanut butter products such as Austin and Keebler brand crackers should contact the salmonella lawyers at Simon & Luke toll free immediately at 1-888-335-4901 in order to protect their rights to settlement funds. We are happy to answer your questions and provide advice on how to collect your settlement funds.
About Simon & Luke
Ron Simon and Simon & Luke have represented thousands of people across the United States, Mexico, and Canada who have been victimized by contaminated food products. We have recovered over $400,000,000 for our clients, including numerous settlements in excess of one million dollars. We have handled over 2000 salmonella claims and filed hundreds of salmonella lawsuits in the last 2 years alone.
Simon & Luke represents over half of the claimants in this outbreak – more than all other law firms in the United States combined.
Hi Ron
Just read this article wow, good job! My hero, saving so many people who were duped! I almost freaked today as I found a package of Austin Crackers in my cupboard… ewwwww!
Keep up the good work!
Ron,
I have been praying for you since day one. You have done an AWESOME job with this case and all of the families involved across the U.S. are very blessed to have you representing them. Thank you for all of you have done and may God bless you and continue to be with you through this journey.