October 5, 2006
The recent spinach-related E.coli outbreak has taken a surprising turn, with the FBI opening a criminal investigation and sending agents to search the premises of two companies.
Growers Express and Natural Selection Foods were the targets of the search. Natural Selections bagged spinach was at the center of the outbreak.
A spokesman for the FBI said there was no suspicion that foul play was involved in the multi-state E. coli outbreak that killed at least one person and sent dozens more to the hospital.
Rather, authorities are acting under a federal statute that requires growers and distributors to ensure the safety of produce.
The spokesman said criminal charges could be filed under a number of environmental laws as well as the U.S. Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act.
In 1996 California-based Odwalla Corp. convicted on criminal charges for not preventing the contamination of its juice products, which were linked to an E. coli outbreak.
The company was fined $1.5 million and pleaded guilty to 16 misdemeanors stemming from the outbreak that killed a child and caused dozens of serious illnesses in the western U.S. and Canada.
The federal prosecutor who handled the case, Joseph John, said the courts have long held that food suppliers have strict liability in contamination cases. That means they can be found guilty of a misdemeanor simply for distributing contaminated food across state lines, whether they had knowledge it was contaminated or not.
