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Distributors and Insurance Carrier Seek to Limit Liability

Peanut Corporation of American has filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy protection. The company faces a pile of legal claims against it as it finds itself at the center of a nationwide salmonella scare. At least 47 individuals have filed claims against PCA, and the company's distributors as well as insurance carrier are seeking to limit their liability.

The bankruptcy filings show that the company carries debt between 100 and 199 creditors and faces between $1 million and $10 million in liabilities. Company assets are listed as being worth between $1 million and $10 million. The company's bankruptcy attorney, Andrew Goldstein, said PCA was hoping to be able to reorganize, but that wouldn't be possible.

So far, PCA's products have been linked to nine deaths and 636 cases of food poisoning in 44 states. Federal investigators are probing the company's processing facilities in Georgia, Texas and Virginia, as well as its owner, Stewart Parnell.