Corruption in Food Industry Allows Companies to Sell Tainted Tomato Products

Purchasing Managers at Kraft Foods, Safeway and Frito-Lay have admitted to taking bribes from now defunct SK Foods, whose employees greased palms in exchange for big contracts and inside information on competitor’s bids. For years, SK Foods shipped tons of tainted tomato paste and puree to customers and falsified documents to hide the fact their products contained unsafe levels of mold, such that sales would have been prohibited under federal law. Purchasing managers at Kraft Foods and other companies awarded lucrative contracts to SK Foods while buying their products at inflated prices. Experts say that more aggressive testing of food products, before they reach the marketplace, is necessary to protect consumers. (2/24) NY Times