Crisis PR| Peanut Butter Recall A Missed Opportunity

Where is Peanut Corp.’s response?

Peanut Butter A week ago, the Peanut Corporation of America (PCA) announced with sincere regret that it was issuing a voluntary national recall of some of America’s tastiest snack foods due to an outbreak of salmonella in peanut products made in their Georgia manufacturing plant. This outbreak has resulted in six deaths and more than 470 sick people across 43 states.

I eat peanut butter every day, so I was quite shocked to hear that my daily source of protein could make me very sick, or worse, kill me. Luckily, word has gotten out fast thanks to an online network of reporters, government officials, PR people and bloggers.

PR Newswire and the FDA Website picked up the PCA press release issued on their Web site on Jan. 13, and from there, papers around the country have printed articles warning citizens of the dangers inside their pantries.

As far as the PR response goes for the Peanut Corp., we’re not seeing too much action. To date, PCA has posted two releases, dated Jan. 13 and 18, on the main page of their Web site.

“We deeply regret that this has happened,” said Stewart Parnell, owner and president of PCA. “Out of an abundance of caution, we are voluntarily withdrawing this product and contacting our customers. We are taking these actions with the safety of our consumers as our first priority.”

And that’s about it. Luckily for PCA, large companies who use their peanut products such as Kellogg’s and General Mills have reached out to the public and announced their dedication to excellent quality products.

On Jan. 16, David Mackay, president and CEO of Kellogg, said, “The actions we are taking today are in keeping with our more than 100-year commitment to providing consumers with safe, high-quality products. We apologize for this unfortunate situation.”

Kellogg recalled 16 products, but has pledged to get its products containing peanut butter off the shelves of stores across America and to begin running their own tests for the bacteria. Kroger and Safeway, two national grocery store chains, have taken responsibility for the products on their shelves by putting forth the names of products that could contain contaminated peanut butter but have not been added to official recall list.

PCA has not conducted a formal press conference with media outlets, not has it reached out to its consumers beyond a few pages of facts. We think that if you distribute thousands of pounds of peanut butter that contain life-threatening bacteria, you might want to do a little more.

Does your company need a public relations firm? MMI Associates is a full-service public relations firm located in Raleigh, NC. Please visit the MMI Associates website for more information. Any questions? Give us a call at 919-233-6600.

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