ConAgra Chief Grilled on Recalls
Posted on: Wednesday, 27 February 2008, 06:00 CST
By Joseph Morton, Omaha World-Herald, Neb.
Feb. 27--WASHINGTON -- ConAgra Chief Executive Gary Rodkin faced some tough questions on Capitol Hill on Tuesday in the wake of the company's recalls of salmonella-tainted peanut butter and pot pies.
Rodkin testified at a hearing alongside top executives from Castleberry Food Co., which recalled canned products over botulism fears, and Dole Food Co., which recalled produce tainted by E. coli.
The head of Hallmark/Westland Meat Packing Co. was asked to testify after the California company recently was responsible for the largest meat recall in U.S. history, but he did not appear.
Tuesday's hearing on "Contaminated Food: Private Sector Accountability" was before a House Energy and Commerce subcommittee.
Last year, ConAgra recalled Peter Pan peanut butter and Banquet pot pies in separate incidents that sickened hundreds of people in several states.
In his testimony, Rodkin apologized to any consumers harmed by the tainted food. He said the company has delivered on promises it made to the committee last year to address the situation.
He said that ConAgra has completely renovated the Georgia facility that produced the tainted peanut butter -- a project that cost about $40 million.
The company has upgraded its food testing programs and changed both processes and equipment at the pot pie facility, he said, and improved the directions on its pot pie packaging to better account for differences among microwave ovens.
The company has established a food safety advisory committee and hired 250 people to support its increased food safety efforts, Rodkin said.
Not everyone was satisfied with his answers, however.
Rep. Diana DeGette, D-Colo., expressed frustration that the company has had so many problems in recent years. She cited the peanut butter and pot pie recalls, and even brought up the use of butter-flavoring additive linked to a lung ailment in popcorn workers at ConAgra plants.
The company announced in December that it had stopped using the additive, diacetyl, in its Orville Redenbacher's and ACT II popcorn brands.
DeGette supports tighter government oversight in the area of food safety, including mandatory recall authority for federal regulators, mandatory tracing of products and significantly increased funding for federal food inspectors.
Rodkin said that ConAgra is fine with mandatory recalls for companies that refuse to cooperate with the government.
DeGette pressed him on what else could be done to boost federal oversight to avoid recalls by ensuring that products are safe before they're shipped out to consumers.
"I think it's incumbent on the industry to act responsibly, and I believe that we have," Rodkin said.
"So you don't really think anything in addition can be done except for the industry making a commitment?" she asked.
"I think the primary responsibility is on the industry," Rodkin said.
"Because they've done such a swell job so far," DeGette said.
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Source: Omaha World-Herald
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User Comments (2)
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Posted by k on 02/27/2008, 10:40 Steve Mendell, the chief exectutive of the company that operated the California slaughterhouse, Hallmark/Westland Foods, was invited to testify at Tuesday’s hearing but declined to appear, Dingell said. --from the Des Moines Register The guy doesn't show up to face Congress--mmm. |
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Posted by k on 02/27/2008, 10:22 I cannot help but notice we are never provided the name of the CEO of Hallmark/Westland Meat Packing Company. And where will Mr. X be setting up shop next, and under what company name? Is his latest slaughterhouse already up and running as those poor diseased cows need somewhere to go to be tortured and killed. Jeez Louise--these days it's not called Ruthless Greed; it's called Deregulated Capitalism and Free Markets--free to destroy our health. |
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