Running head: Should Corporations Be Criminally Liable

Should Corporations Be Criminally Liable for Foodborne Illness Outbreaks?
Allen Leckband
Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University MGMT 533 Abstract
Foodborne illnesses pose a significant risk to public safety and every year millions of Americans are sickened and many die because of improper food handling, preparation, and storage. Government agencies that are responsible for food safety are tasked with regulation and inspections are often ineffective because corporations that fail inspections are not concerned about penalties imposed on them by the USDA and FDA. Civil suits by victims of foodborne illnesses are often difficult to win and do not affect larger corporations. The Department of Justice is attempting to prosecute individuals from corporations that are responsible for foodborne illness outbreaks but there is currently no legislation holds individuals from corporations responsible for foodborne illness outbreaks to be held criminally liable.
Should Corporations Be Criminally Liable for Foodborne Illness Outbreaks?

Introduction

Foodborne illness represents a serious threat to everyone in the United States and according to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) 1 in 6 or 48 million Americans are sickened each year by consuming contaminated foods or beverages resulting in an estimated 128,000 hospitalizations and 3,000 deaths. (“Foodborne Illness”, 2014). Foodborne illness or food poisoning as it is sometimes referred to, is most often caused when bacteria, viruses, molds, and parasites enter the human gastrointestinal tract. The most common foodborne illnesses include Salmonella, and the Norovirus which alone account for 69% of all foodborne illnesses in the United States (“What is Foodborne Illness”, 2014). The contamination is often caused by when food or liquids are improperly stored, handled, or prepared. Another common cause is when food comes in contact with pests such as insects and rodents, especially cockroaches and rats. Even though the FDA reports such a high number or cases of food borne illnesses that number is probably much higher as many cases are unreported so most cases there is no record illness.
When humans ingest contaminated food or beverages the results can range from a slight to severe stomach ache that may require a visit to the emergency room to hospitalization and even death. Most often the effects of food poisoning are short term and last for a few days, however, there are numerous cases where the being sickened results in long term effects such as kidney failure, chronic arthritis, brain, and nerve damage (Long Term Effects, n.d.) Most often the young, pregnant women, older adults, and people with chronic illnesses or compromised immune systems are at a higher risk of not only getting sick but also becoming sicker than a healthy adult. In all cases consuming exposed food, juices, and/or beverages represent a very serious health risk to all Americans.
Recent Food Borne Illnesses
While in recent years there have been a decrease in some types of food borne illnesses, for example the cases of Salmonella have decreased by nine percent in 2013 however, when compared to the past three years there are others such as E.coli that are actually increasing (“Trends in Foodborne Illness”, April 28th, 2014). Despite the statistics, millions of Americans are still sickened and die each year as result of food poisoning. Why? Many incidents of food poisoning are a result of improper food handling at home. Eating or drinking something after the expiration date or consuming leftovers that have been kept in the refrigerator too long are more often than not the culprit. For many years much of our food was grown locally and canned at home and even today home canning is still common in rural areas. In those incidents if the food is not handled or prepared improperly it can become contaminated which can also lead to food poisoning. In those cases the responsibility lies with the individual to be aware of expiration dates and throw out food that has been kept too long, however, much of what we eat is not grown or prepared by us.
Today much of our food comes from companies that make it for us. By some estimates Americans eat 31 percent more packaged food than fresh food and consume more packaged food per person than in nearly all other countries (Fairfield, April 3rd, 2010) Additionally, up to 70% of what we eat is processed food that is made for us by large corporations that manufacture our foods for us (Ryssdal, K., March 12th, 2013). Because of this, Americans are putting our trust in these corporations to do everything they can to keep our food safe. For some companies, the utmost care and precautions are taken when food is produced. For many years my mother was the Comptroller for a company in Mobile, Alabama called Diversified Foods and Seasonings, Inc. They prepare food for Popeye’s Chicken and Copeland’s Restaurants as well as seasonings for Taco Bell and Kentucky Fried Chicken. I remember visiting the plant and the manager took me on a tour of the storage and preparation areas. I had to wear a disposable suit, hat, gloves, and covers for my shoes as a walked through the plant. Throughout the tour the manager explained how the food was prepared and how those areas were cleaned and inspected during the process. Everyone I met took cleanliness and food safety very serious and made it their primary focus and even now in doing my research I did not find a single incident of food borne illness from any products coming from that plant.
Unfortunately there are food manufactures that do not place an emphasis on safety and either through negligence or in an effort to cut costs end up producing food that makes us sick. In 2011 the most lethal case of foodborne illness since 1924 occurred when cantaloupes tainted with Listeria monocytogenes from a Colorado farm sickened 147 people in 28 states and killed 33 others (Estabrook, 2012). In 2008 one of the worst cases of Salmonella outbreaks in the United States occurred when peanut product base, which is used for peanut butter, ice cream, cookies, and crackers from the Peanut Corporation of America (PCA) sickened 700 people in 44 states and resulted in nine deaths (Jennings, 2015, p 271). Prior to that incident, another nationwide recall was issued for Peter Pan and Great Value Peanut Butter due to Salmonella that affected 425 people requiring in 44 states which resulted in 71 people requiring hospitalization (“Salmonellosis - Outbreak Investigation” February 2007. March 7TH, 2007). These and other outbreaks have one thing in common, they were preventable and were the result of negligence by companies that have very little regard for public safety.
What is currently being done to protect consumers from foodborne illnesses?

Because large scale outbreaks of foodborne illnesses usually involve multiple states there are US Federal Government Agencies that have a role in keeping our food safe, the Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) which is part of the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The FSIS is part of the U.S. Department of Agriculture and is responsible for ensuring meat, poultry, and eggs are safely packaged and labeled correctly. Next is the FDA and their responsibility is protect consumers against impure, unsafe, fraudulently labeled products; they also regulate foods that are not regulated by the FSIS. Lastly, the CDC is the agency that gathers data on foodborne illnesses, investigates illnesses and outbreaks, and monitors the efforts in reducing foodborne illnesses (Selected Federal Agencies with a Role in Food Safety. n.d.). The primarily agencies that share the responsible for food safety are the USDA and FDA. These two federal agencies, along with the state health departments are form an extremely large and complex organization and like many government agencies, the USDA and FDA lack the manpower, funding, and necessary mandates to be effective. Their primary responsibility is conducting inspections and when violations occur they have the power to impose fines and even shut the companies down until it can comply with their regulations. However, they lack the authority to impose large enough fines and severe enough penalties to stop the violations it uncovers. In fact, when they do uncover health violations at food-processing plants it only takes enforcement action in only about half the cases and almost never imposes fines (Estabrook, B. 2012). Because of their ineffectiveness, the result is often corporations would rather turn a profit and risk making people ill than comply with the USDA and FDA regulations.
What needs to happen in order to better protect consumers?
When companies do choose to ignore the USDA and FDA regulations and an outbreak does occur often time the only recourse is for the victims to file a civil suit for damages. While some of these lawsuits do result in large sums for the victims they are often tied up in court for years while the victims wait patiently for compensation that many times does not occur. Often the only real beneficiaries are the attorneys, especially when the cases are large class action suits with multiple plaintiffs. For smaller companies, fines, attorney fees, and compensating the victims could result in bankruptcy but for larger corporations it’s just the price of doing business. The end result is that large companies remain relatively unaffected and hide behind legal protections granted to them by incorporation. Companies who knowingly and wrongfully disregard government regulations for the sake of making a profit are not only violating laws but are not socially responsible and unethical.
Because fines imposed by the USDA and FDA are largely ignored by most companies and civil suits can be legally maneuvered around and responsible individuals can hide behind the legal protection afforded to them by incorporation the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) has begun to step in and attempt to prosecute individuals from corporations for violations related to foodborne illness outbreaks. In 2013 the DOJ indicted former executives PCA for various charges including mail and wire fraud, intent to defraud or mislead, and conspiracy. In an unprecedented federal criminal case on September 19th, 2014, guilty verdicts were handed down for the President of PCA, his brother, and former quality assurance manager were convicted (White, R. September 25th, 2014). Additionally, federal charges against the ConAgra Corporation are still possible over the Peter Pan peanut butter outbreak that occurred in 2007 (“Federal Criminal Charges Against ConAgra” April 2nd, 2014).

Conclusion
While Congress as yet pass legislation that would make individuals in corporations criminally liable for their actions for cases of foodborne illness outbreaks continue to occur and public opinion, as evidenced by the recent DOJ cases brought against PCA and ConAgra is beginning to sway towards changing the laws regarding food safety. Unfortunately, it will take much more than public opinion to change the laws in this country. Agriculture and food companies represent some of the largest and most powerful companies in the country. With powerful lobbyist to influence Congress it would take a great deal of support to pass any effective laws.

References
What is foodborne illness (disease, infection)? (2014, September 23). Retrieved December 9, 2014, from http://www.cdc.gov/foodsafety/facts.html
Foodborne Illnesses: What You Need to Know. (2014, May 27). Retrieved December 9, 2014, from http://www.fda.gov/Food/FoodborneIllnessContaminants/FoodborneIllnessesNeedToKnow/default.htm
Long-Term Effects. (n.d.). Retrieved December 8, 2014, from http://www.foodsafety.gov/poisoning/effects/index.html
Trends in Foodborne Illness in the United States, 2013. (2014, April 28). Retrieved December 10, 2014, from http://www.cdc.gov/features/dsfoodsafetyreport/
Fairfield, H. (2010, April 3). Factory Food. New York Times. Retrieved December 13, 2014, from http://www.nytimes.com/2010/04/04/business/04metrics.html?_r=0
Ryssdal, K. (2013, March 12). Processed foods make up 70 percent of the U.S. diet. Retrieved December 13, 2014, from http://www.marketplace.org/topics/life/big-book/processed-foods-make-70-percent-us-diet
Estabrook, B. (2012, December 5). Why Isn't the FDA Stopping the Epidemic of Foodborne Illness? Retrieved December 13, 2014, from http://www.motherjones.com/environment/2012/11/fda-out-lunch
Jennings, M. (2015). Business Its Legal, Ethical, and Global Environment (10th ed.). Stamford: Cengage Learning.
Salmonellosis - Outbreak Investigation, February 2007. (2007, March 7). Retrieved December 13, 2014, from http://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/dbmd/diseaseinfo/salmonellosis_2007/outbreak_notice.htm
Selected Federal Agencies with a Role in Food Safety. (n.d.). Retrieved December 14, 2014, from http://www.foodsafety.gov/about/federal/
White, R. (2014, September 25). Poisoned Peanuts: Verdict Sends Strong Message to Food Company Executives. Retrieved December 13, 2014, from http://www.foreffectivegov.org/node/13230Federal Criminal Charges Against ConAgra Still Possible Over Peter Pan Outbreak. (2014, April 2). Retrieved December 13, 2014, from http://www.foodsafetynews.com/2014/04/federal-criminal-charges-against-conagra-still-possible-over-peter-pan-outbreak/#.VI5L200g9es