I agree with this. I do think it was negligent and deserved to be punished, but was it really criminal?? Unless they took shortcuts in terms of logistics or agriculture then I don't think they should do time.They're farmers how are they supposed to know a fruit is riddled with bacteria
They're not running a billion dollar drug company who got caught giving bad drugs. If they couldn't tell the fruit was bad, and the people who bought the fruit couldn't tell it was bad, why do they deserve to go to jail.
The focus should be on using this unfortunate event to test produce more stringently to avoid this from happening again. Now of they were caught tampering with the fruit, or shipping it in a way that would cause bacteria to grow. that's a different story.
Family Avoids Jail Time - After Their Products Kill 33 People
- Thread starter MidwestD
- Start date
NZA
LOL
the article needs more info, did they operate in a dangerous manner on that farm?
MidwestD
Clyde Frog's Shooter
here's a quote from the full article:
The pair’s farm in May 2011 began using the same system to wash potatoes to clean cantaloupes, too. But they neglected to use a chlorine spray that could have greatly cut down bacteria.
“The defendants were aware that their cantaloupes could be contaminated with harmful bacteria if not sufficiently washed,” U.S. Attorney John Walsh in Colorado said in a previous statement. “The chlorine spray, if used, would have reduced the risk of microbial contamination of the fruit.”
They knew something like this could happen but still chose to take shortcuts, which is what usually happens when there's a food illness outbreak. They wanted to save a few bucks and people died, and that's happened too many times in this country.
