Food company fined $19.2M in Kellogg’s Honey Smacks salmonella outbreak

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Honey Smacks salmonella outbreak fine overview: 

• Who: Food ingredient company Kerry Inc. has agreed to pay a fine of $19.2 million lobbied at it by the U.S. Department of Justice. 
• Why: Kerry agreed to the fine as part of a guilty plea the company made in response to its role in a 2018 salmonella outbreak connected to Kellogg’s Honey Smacks breakfast cereal that was produced at Kerry’s now-closed plant in Gridley, Illinois. 
• Where: The recall was nationwide.

Kerry Inc. has agreed to pay $19.2 million to resolve claims the food ingredient company produced Kellogg’s Honey Smacks breakfast cereal in unsanitary conditions at a factory in Gridley, Illinois, that was connected to a salmonella outbreak in 2018. 

The salmonella outbreak impacted recalled Kellogg’s Honey Smacks produced at the now-closed Illinois facility, inside which routine testing found salmonella around 81 times from between June 2016 and June 2018, Law360 reports. 

In addition to the fine, Kerry reportedly pleaded guilty — which a court still has to accept — to a misdemeanor charge of distributing food that was adulterated. 

The fine amount would be the largest ever as the result of a criminal conviction arising from a case revolving around food safety, Law360 reports. 

The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) had accused Kerry of failing to put corrective measures in place following the salmonella findings — of which there were at least one per month — by the company’s own environmental monitoring program. 

Kerry acknowledges resolution with DOJ, vows to improve food safety practices

Kerry released a statement earlier this month acknowledging it had reached a resolution with the DOJ in connection with the 2018 incident. 

“Kerry regrets the unacceptable practices and failures that occurred at Gridley.  Arising from the issues, conduct and practices that occurred there, the company made the decision to permanently close the plant,” the company said. 

Kerry said it has undertaken a “comprehensive review” of the company’s food safety practices — including policy and oversight — in the wake of the incident, with a “particular focus on ensuring adherence to group standards and governance.” 

“Though the issues at Gridley were plant-specific in nature, Kerry has invested and continues to invest significantly in all aspects of its food safety and quality processes and to further embed safety as a central pillar in everything that it does,” the company said. 

After another recall involving salmonella, a class action lawsuit was filed against Thomson International in August 2020 by a consumer arguing the company bore responsibility for a salmonella outbreak that was connected to onions it distributed. 

Have you been affected by a food recall revolving around salmonella concerns? Let us know in the comments. 

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