Recalls that kill
Defective products can destroy the companies that made them. Here are 5 companies that didn't survive their recalls -- and 2 that used bankruptcy to their advantage.
Peanut Corporation of America, the company at the crux of the nationwide salmonella panic, filed for liquidation bankruptcy in February 2009, just a month after it first announced a recall of peanut butter products processed in its Blakely, Ga., plant.
The salmonella outbreak sickened more than 700 people in 46 states and led to nine deaths. PCA's recall quickly expanded to include all peanuts and peanut products processed at the facility since January 2007.
In its bankruptcy filing, PCA said the recalls were "extremely devastating to the financial condition of the company," and it viewed bankruptcy as the only way out. In October, a bankruptcy judge ordered PCA's insurance carrier to set aside $12 million to reimburse victims for health issues related to the recalled products.
NEXT: Topps Meat Company
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