"It's regrettable, but it's inevitable with the events of last month," said Andrew S. Goldstein, a bankruptcy lawyer in Roanoke, Va., who filed the [image-nocss] petition.
The nationwide salmonella outbreak that has sickened some 600 people and may have caused nine deaths was traced to the company's plant in Blakely, Ga., where inspectors found roaches, mold and a leaking roof. A second plant in Texas was shuttered this week after preliminary tests came back positive for possible salmonella contamination.
The company said in the filing that its debt and assets both ranged between $1 million and $10 million.
"It is in the best interest of creditors that all actions against the company be assembled under one roof," Goldstein said.
The government is working on a criminal investigation into the case, and more than a dozen civil lawsuits have been filed.
Peanut Corp. president Stewart Parnell repeatedly refused to answer questions last Wednesday before the House Energy & Commerce investigations subcommittee, which is seeking ways to prevent another outbreak. But e-mails surfaced indicating he directly ordered products the company knew were tainted to be shipped anyway.
Reached by telephone, Parnell said his attorneys had advised him not to talk. "If I could do it, I would," he said.
Click herefor the U.S. Food & Drug Administration's (FDA) frequently updated peanut butter recall webpage.
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