Kerry Inc. Pleads Guilty and Agrees to Pay $19.228 Million in Connection with Insanitary Plant Conditions Linked to 2018 Salmonella Poisoning Outbreak
Food and ingredient manufacturing company Kerry Inc. pleaded guilty today to a charge that it manufactured breakfast cereal under insanitary conditions at a facility in Gridley, Illinois, that was linked to a 2018 salmonellosis outbreak.
Pursuant to a plea agreement filed with a criminal information in federal court in Peoria, Illinois, Kerry pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor count of distributing adulterated cereal marketed as Kellogg’s Honey Smacks. The company also agreed to pay a criminal fine and forfeiture amount totaling $19.228 million. If the guilty plea is accepted by the court, the $19.228 million fine and forfeiture will constitute the largest-ever criminal penalty following a criminal conviction in a food safety case.
https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/kerry-inc-pleads-guilty-and-agrees-pay-19228-million-connection-insanitary-plant-conditions