DeLauro Statement on Sentencing of Peanut Corporation Executives

NEW HAVEN, CT--Congresswoman Rosa DeLauro (D-CT) released the following statement today on the sentencing of Stewart and Michael Parnell, former executives at the Peanut Corporation of America. DeLauro is the former chair, and currently serves as a senior member, of the subcommittee responsible for funding the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). DeLauro called for a Department of Justice investigation into Peanut Corporation of America in January 2009.

“Stewart and Michael Parnell’s actions were heinous and criminal, and I am happy they have been recognized as such. Not only did they knowingly ship tainted peanuts, they shopped around for a laboratory that would help them cover up their crimes. This case, and too many other outbreaks of foodborne illnesses, led to the Food Safety Modernization Act, which has helped move our food safety system from one that reacted to outbreaks to one that tries to prevent them from happening. We cannot allow a case such as this, where nine people died and over 700 were sickened, to occur again.

“But the Food Safety Modernization Act’s promise has not been fully realized. The FDA needs more funding to enforce the rules that have been issued and the ones that have yet to come. Congress must commit more substantial resources to ensure this indispensable law is successful. Nothing less than the health of the American public is at stake.”

DeLauro and Congressman Sam Farr (D-CA) recently wrote to the heads of the Office of Management and Budget, and Department of Health and Human Services, urging them to ask Congress for the full funding necessary to implement the Food Safety Modernization Act.


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