This whole peanut debacle has me really pissed off.  I was browsing the aisles of my favorite Super Target and couldn’t help but give everything peanut-related the squinty-eye.   Even though this recall is supposedly limited to a single manufacturer…it’s giving the whole peanut world a bad rap.

And we don’t need American products getting a bad rap.   The economy sucks enough without HUGE PRODUCT RECALLS.

Now it turns out that the “family owned” Peanut Corporation of America not only distributed TANKER TRUCKLOADS of SALMONELLA-INFECTED Peanut paste and Peanut butter to store shelves everywhere, but THEY DID IT KNOWINGLY!

“The firm, as part of their own internal testing program, identified some type of salmonella and released a product after it was re-tested [and found not to be contaminated], in some case by a different laboratory,” said Michael Rogers, director of the FDA’s division of field investigations.

In case you were wondering, salmonella is classified by the Center for Disease Control as a Category B Bioterrorism Agent.

“On 12 occasions in 2007 and 2008, Peanut Corporation of America (PCA) sent out peanut butter and peanut paste  even though it knew there was salmonella in the ingredients or finished products.”

According to the CDC as of 9pm on January 25th:

CONFIRMED INFECTED VICTIMS:   501
NUMBER OF STATES AFFECTED: 43
COUNTRIES AFFECTED:  2 (U.S. & Canada)

DEATH TOLL (SO FAR):  8

The mastermind behind the company responsible for what may very well turn out to be the LARGEST RELEASE OF A BIOLOGICAL TERROR AGENT in the history of the world is Stewart Parnell.   He’s the president/owner of the “family owned” Peanut Corporation of America.

Funny how their website isn’t showing much of anything anymore.    Good thing I grabbed screenshots of all of their previous pages from Google’a Cache, where I found this little tidbit from August 4, 2004:

“Whether you are considering us for the first time or you are already our customer, you’ll find we continually strive to provide innovative, flexible processing services to meet our customers’ wide-ranging needs.“  – Stewart Parnell

Apparently their “Flexible processing services” include SHIPPING BIOLOGICAL AGENTS!

“We deeply regret that this product recall is expanding and our first priority is to protect the health of our customers. Our company has worked around the clock for the last week with federal regulators to help identify any potential problems. Our Blakely facility is currently not operating as we continue to work with federal food safety investigators,” Parnell said.

That’s kinda like Lex Luther saying “I deeply regret I shot a nuclear missile at the San Andreas Fault, and my number #1 concern is, of course, the fine citizens of California.”

Don’t F*CK with DIGGZ’ peanut supply, Parnell!

Oh, and anyone who would like to get a zip file with a complete set of high-rez screenshots AND text of the Peanut Corporation’s Website (among others) prior to January 5th, 2009,  send me an email at johnny @ diggz . org.  They’re only $100 and they’re going fast!   Here’s a free sample nugget: