I was watching the news today (CNN) on television and was listening to a story about the recent salmonella outbreak related to the tainted peanut butter. The story was covering testimony in the case about how the peanut butter company had sent the peanut butter to a lab for testing, and that it had come back positive for salmonella. Then the company sent it to a second lab, and it came back negative, so the company decided to sell it.

The news story said that there is no law requiring any company to report to the FDA the negative test results, and since they had it tested a second time at a different and it came back negative that it was legal for them to sell it. If there ARE charges brought against the company for selling the products KNOWING that they were tainted, the maximum penalty is $1,000 and/or up to one year in prison! Eight people are dead, many sickened, and the maximum penalty is $1,000!

Today I was driving along a road and saw a “no littering $2500 fine” sign beside the road. How is it exactly that littering is a more grievous crime than selling tainted peanut butter that killed eight people? There is something wrong with THAT law, and it needs to be changed!