Bill Marler on prosecutions and food safety violations
Lots of insight in this article.
Yet, looking at the above eight outbreaks together, I find it a bit hard to parse out why some have been targeted – OK, perhaps the Parnell prosecution is a bit easier because it was so clearly intentional – and some have not, or at least not yet.
Honestly, what are the differences in prosecuting the Jensens, DeCosters and ConAgra and leaving the others – so far – unmolested by section 402(a)(4) of the FDCA? Is it the number of sick, the number of dead? Is it the economic consequences? What really are the criteria, or, should it simply be left to the discretion of the prosecutor as to who or what feels the sting of the criminal justice system?
Striking is the seemingly arbitrary decisions about when to prosecute and when not. Short of the Parnell brothers and the Peanut Corporation of America scandal, it seems like throwing darts at a board.