The recent salmonella outbreak caused by contamination in peanut plants in the United States has raised new fears about domestic food security. To date, eight people have died in connection with the contamination and 600 hundred have become ill. A recent video from the New York Times recaps the development of the outbreak and challenges facing government regulation of food in the United States.
On Wednesday, in a tense and dramatic hearing before the House Energy & Commerce Committee, Peanut Corporation of America president Stewart Parnell invoked his Fifth Amendment rights to avoid answering questions about contamination at Peanut Corporation plants.
Prior to Parnell’s appearance, victims and their families testified about the harm caused by the contamination.
The salmonella outbreak in peanuts, a food product widely consumed or added to food in the U.S., has already led to new oversight by the FDA.
