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Peanut Corp. of America files Chapter 7 after closing Georgia and Texas plants.
West Palm Beach, FL (JusticeNewsFlash.com)–Peanut Corporation of America (PCA), the Lynchburg, Virginia based peanut processing company, filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy as reported by Virginia Business on Monday.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) www.fda.gov linked a nationwide salmonella outbreak to PCA’s Blakely, Georgia peanut processing plant in January 2009, prompting the beginning of one of the largest nationwide recalls of consumer food products in United States history.
PCA was linked to an epidemic salmonella outbreak which has sickened over 600 consumers and may be linked to 9 deaths in 44 states. Officials at the peanut company were called to testify before a Congressional subcommittee in Washington D.C. last week. Company executives refused to testify citing Fifth Amendment rights against self-incrimination as advised by their lawyers. Federal and state investigators found numerous government health and safety violations causing the company to close their Blakely, Georgia and Plainview, Texas peanut processing plants.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture suspended the company and its Suffolk, Virginia plant eliminating the business’s ability to continue supplying peanuts, peanut butter, peanut meal and peanut paste to its vendors. PCA sold their peanut products to institutions like schools and nursing homes and food processors who used the peanut products in a wide range of cookies and snacks for consumers across the country. Chapter 7 bankruptcy typically means the company, filing the bankruptcy claim in court, will fold and sell of its assets to pay debts.
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