Food, Justice, and the American Way

Over the last two decades or so, Americans have learned the truth about how safe our food really is. In 1993, the “Jack in the Box” E.coli outbreak, tied to tainted beef hamburger patties, shocked the nation as it sickened over 700 people. Worse, the majority of those who became ill and hospitalized were young children, four of whom died. Communities gathered as men carried toddlers’ caskets.

Since then, scores of innocent consumers, mostly the young, elderly, and other vulnerable populations, have battled a long list of pathogens—no longer associated solely with meat and poultry. Illnesses and deaths are tied to foods we never suspected as possible threats, such as spinach, cantaloupe, peanuts, sprouts, green onions, and dairy.

Since 1993, rarely have the owners or executive officers of major companies faced anything more than a fine. Not one of the corporate executives related to the “Jack in the Box” E.coli outbreak faced a single federal indictment for the illnesses and deaths caused by their actions. For a while now, civil lawsuits ending in out-of-court settlements have been the only form of justice for victims of foodborne illness or death caused by corporations, retailers, or restaurants. But settlements cannot erase the lifelong medical and emotional impacts of foodborne illnesses, nor can they hide an empty chair at the family table.

Only a few examples exist of court cases where the executives of a food company have been prosecuted since the Responsible Corporate Officer doctrine of criminal liability resulted from the Supreme Court’s decision in U.S. v. Park (1975) 40 years ago.

The most widely publicized in recent history is that of U.S. v. Peanut Corporation of America (PCA), 2014. This was one of the most deadly outbreaks of Salmonella in modern U.S. history with over 700 reported illnesses in 46 states and nine deaths. In 2014, a U.S. District Court jury in Albany, Ga., found Stewart Parnell, PCA’s owner, and his brother guilty on almost 100 felony counts including covering up positive lab tests showing peanuts were tainted with Salmonella and continuing to ship contaminated product to vendors. If any trial of food executives for crimes related to the illnesses and deaths of consumers should be sentenced to time in prison, this is the one. [Editor’s note: Since the writing of this column, Parnell and his brother were, indeed, sentenced to prison terms of 28 years and 20 years respectively.]

Two other examples are:

• U.S. v. Quality Egg, (DeCoster and son), involving an outbreak of Salmonella that sickened nearly 2,000 consumers nationwide and the recall of over one half billion eggs. The defendants and the company pled guilty in June 2014 to the interstate shipment of adulterated food. In 2015, the court sentenced the two owners to serve jail terms, each pay a $100,000 fine as well as restitution, and placed the corporation on three years’ probation with an ordered fine of $6.79 million.
• U.S. v. Eric Jensen and Ryan Jensen involving the 2011 Listeria outbreak tied to cantaloupe hospitalizing 147 people in 28 states and killing 33 people, including a miscarriage. The brothers pled guilty to six counts of adulteration of a food and aiding and abetting and, in 2014, received probation for five years, requiring six months of home detention and 100 hours community service, and restitution of $300,000 to victims’ families.

With consumers learning about how unsafe food can be and recent changes in justice system enforcement of federal laws enacted to protect consumer health, a note should be made about the American way. American families have become safer thanks to the actions of unlikely heroes who refused to ignore the need to make a difference:

• Two teenage girls who, as victims of foodborne illness at young ages, spent many of their teenage years testifying before legislators about the true burden of disease and the need for Congress to pass the FDA Food Safety Modernization Act.
• The Seattle lawyer who has represented countless families impacted by negligent actions in the food industry.
• The grandmother who, after losing her four-year-old granddaughter to E.coli, worked with state legislators on a bill requiring doctors to test for foodborne pathogens in an effort to prevent them from going undiagnosed.
• The father who lost his toddler son to foodborne illness during the 1993 E.coli outbreak and has, ever since, worked with the government and industry to help to strengthen food policies.
• The mother who, after burying her six-year-old son due to E.coli, spoke before legislators and industry for two decades as the voice of countless parents who lost their children.
• The actions of parents after the 1993 E.coli outbreak who came together to form STOP Foodborne Illness, the national nonprofit health organization dedicated to the prevention of illness and death from foodborne pathogens, and focused on advocating for sound public policy, building public awareness, and assisting those impacted by foodborne illness.

Perhaps justice for those convicted of crimes against the American consumer also can provide for all victims and their families a sense that validation and resolution is possible. Perhaps one day the American way will involve parents being able to serve the family meal without fear.

About the author: Since the 1993 “Jack in the Box” E.coli outbreak, policymakers at the state, federal, and food industry levels have called upon Darin Detwiler as a significant voice in strengthening America’s food policies. He is the senior policy coordinator at STOP Foodborne Illness and the lead academic consultant and an adjunct professor in the Regulatory Affairs of Food and Food Industry Program at Northeastern University, where he is also a Doctoral Candidate in Law and Policy.