Remember the good old days, when only mobsters, tobacco company executives, and Reagan administration officials did this?

As opposed to people responsible for our food supply?

I have to say, though: The Fifth Amendment is still a good one. One of the best.

Officials of the peanut company blamed for a deadly salmonella outbreak refused to testify Wednesday at a House committee hearing, citing their rights to avoid possible self-incrimination.

Their move came as Energy and Commerce Chairman Henry A. Waxman , D‑Calif., disclosed e‑mails showing the company was notified in the fall by a private lab that its products tested positive for the pathogen.

Waxman disclosed the e-mails at a hearing convened by his panel’s Oversight and Investigations Subcommittee to question Stewart Parnell, president of the Peanut Corp. of America, plant manager Sammy Lightsey and federal officials about the failure to protect the food supply.

On the advice of counsel, however, both Peanut Corp. officials invoked their Fifth Amendment rights.