so much for liability!

The peanut processing company at the heart of a national salmonella outbreak, Peanut Corp. of America, has filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy liquidation in court in Lynchburg, Virginia.

The bankruptcy papers were signed by Stewart Parnell, the president of Peanut Corp., who invoked his Fifth Amendment rights against self-incrimination in refusing to answer questions this week in a congressional hearing.

Bacteria found in the company’s Blakely, Georgia, peanut processing plant have been blamed for more than 600 cases of salmonella, including nine deaths.

The Texas Health Department on Thursday ordered products from the company’s plant in Plainview, Texas, to be recalled after discovering dead rodents, rodent excrement and bird feathers in the plant…

“It is unacceptable for corporations to put consumers’ health at risk and then simply declare bankruptcy and go out of business when they get caught,” said Jean Halloran, director of food policy initiatives at Consumers Union, publisher of Consumer Reports.

“PCA’s declaration of bankruptcy will, among other things, shield it from liability suits filed by consumers who became sick or whose loved ones died as a result of eating PCA’s peanut products,” she said.

There goes liability, responsibility. Nothing more than a slap on the wrist coming from the FDA.