The
manager of the Peanut Corporation processing plant in Georgia confessed that he
hid salmonella test results from government inspectors.
Peanuts
from the plant are held responsible for sickening about 6,000 people across the
United States.
The
first outbreaks were reported in January, 2009, and by the time the extent of
the food poisonings was known, the company was in bankruptcy before the end of
the year.
During
a trial that has just begun, plans manager Samuel Lightsey said he lied to Food and Drug Administration investigators about
positive tests for salmonella in the company's product and about the frequency
of testing done at the plant.
"I was trying to
play damage control, trying to protect the company," Lightsey testified at
the trial of his former boss and company owner Stewart Parnell, and two others.