Capital Press reporter Mateusz Perkowski got Shaun George to engage his mouth before his brain in today’s story – “Hazelnut packer declines FDA request for grower list.” According to the Press, George “has refused to give the U.S. Food and Drug Administration a list of its farmer suppliers the agency requested as part of an investigation into a disease outbreak.”
Also according to the Press, “[t]he FDA requested the information after hazelnuts packed by the George Packing Co. of Newberg, Ore., were voluntarily recalled in connection with several illnesses from E. coli bacteria, said Shaun George, a principal of the company.”
According to George, “[t]he company has refused to turn over the supplier information because it’s proprietary and because hazelnuts haven’t been proven to be the cause of the E. coli outbreak….”
Hopefully, Mr. George’s lawyer will advise him to stop talking and to give the FDA the information that it needs to do a proper traceback. A traceback to the source, if possible, will hopefully help learn how the contamination occurred, so it can be avoided in the future.