"Just ship it."
Stewart Parnell knew his peanut butter contained salmonella. "Just ship it. I cannot afford to lose another customer." Nine people died. He got 28 years. But most executives escape with civil penalties worth a fraction of their profits.
Americans get foodborne illness yearly
Hospitalizations per year
Deaths per year
Economic losses yearly
This isn't about accidents or oversights. It's about calculated decisions where companies determine that dead customers cost less than safety measures. Every meal we eat carries the risk that somewhere, an executive has decided our lives are worth less than their profits.
Peanut Corporation of America: 28 years in prison.
The most shocking example of deliberate food contamination in U.S. history. Internal emails revealed CEO Stewart Parnell knew products tested positive for salmonella but ordered shipments anyway.
The Evidence
- "Turn them loose" - Parnell's instruction after products tested positive
- "$$$$$$ - it is costing us huge $$$$$$" - Complaining about delayed testing
- 12 positive salmonella tests between 2007-2008
- "We have never found any salmonella at all" - Parnell's lie to buyers
714 sickened across 46 states. CDC estimates true number at 22,000 cases.
First food executive to receive serious prison time. Brother got 20 years.
China's melamine scandal: 300,000 babies poisoned.
The 2008 Chinese milk scandal represents the largest deliberate food contamination in history. Melamine, an industrial chemical used in plastics, was deliberately added to diluted milk to make it appear higher in protein.
51,900 hospitalized with kidney stones and renal failure. Melamine levels as high as 2,563 mg/kg found in Sanlu products.
The Cover-Up
Sanlu received first complaints in December 2007 but continued selling contaminated formula for 9 months - delaying recalls until after the Beijing Olympics to avoid embarrassing China.
The Aftermath
Two men executed. Sanlu's boss got life imprisonment. Ten years later, 80-90% of formula purchased in Australia is smuggled to China because parents refuse to buy domestic formula.
The same story, over and over.
Jack in the Box (1993)
4 children dead732 infected. Company knew Washington state required cooking to 155°F but chose lower federal standard to save cooking time. 178 suffered permanent kidney and brain damage.
Jensen Farms Cantaloupe (2011)
33 dead + 1 miscarriageDirty water and old, unsanitized equipment at the Colorado farm. One of the deadliest listeria outbreaks in U.S. history across 28 states.
Boar's Head (2024)
10 dead, 59 ill69 USDA violations over a year: rotten meat on rusty equipment, meat-clogged drains, moldy walls, puddles of blood, insect infestations. 7 million pounds recalled.
The economics of acceptable death.
The food industry treats recalls as a cost of doing business. Companies calculate that occasional massive payouts and recalls cost less than comprehensive safety systems.
The Pattern Repeats
- Companies know about contamination but ship anyway
- Cost-cutting creates contamination - dirty equipment, skipped testing, untrained workers
- Regulatory capture enables death - USDA admits bacteria-laden meat with their seal is legal
- Punishment rarely fits the crime - most executives escape with civil penalties
Food safety advocate Bill Marler notes: "The problems we have today are the problems we had 10, 15, 20 years ago" - but the government has stopped adequately warning the public.
Human lives are worth less than profit margins.
Until executives consistently face prison time and companies face existence-threatening penalties, the calculation remains simple. The food on our tables remains a potential weapon - not by accident, but by design.