From an article in Food Safety News, the producer of Honey Smacks cereal, Kerry Inc, pleaded guilty to operating a food facility in unsanitary conditions that lead to product becoming contaminated with Salmonella. The plea agreement will include a $19.2 million payout.
In this outbreak, at least 135 people reported being ill with 34 people hospitalized.
"Documents unsealed today revealed that Salmonella had been found on an ongoing basis at the Kerry manufacturing plant in Gridley, IL. During the time period June 2016 to June 2018, routine environmental tests detected Salmonella in the plant 81 times, including at least one positive Salmonella sample each month. According to the plea agreement with the company, employees at the Gridley facility routinely failed to implement corrective and preventative actions to address positive Salmonella tests."
"In a related case, Ravi K. Chermala, Kerry’s Director of Quality Assurance until September 2018, previously pleaded guilty to three federal misdemeanor counts of causing the introduction of adulterated food into interstate commerce. Chermala oversaw the sanitation programs at various Kerry manufacturing plants, including the Gridley facility. “In pleading guilty, Chermala admitted that between June 2016 and June 2018, he directed subordinates not to report certain information to Kellogg’s about conditions at the Gridley facility,” according to the Justice Department. “In addition, Chermala admitted that he directed subordinates at the Gridley facility to alter the plant’s program for monitoring for the presence of pathogens in the plant, limiting the facility’s ability to accurately detect insanitary conditions. Chermala is scheduled to be sentenced on Feb. 16.”"
Source - https://www.foodsafetynews.com/2023/02/largest-food-safety-settlement-entered-in-federal-case-against-honey-smacks/
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