The FDA and the CDC have told consumers to avoid eating products that contain peanut butter until additional information on the current salmonella outbreak becomes available. At least 474 people in 43 states have been sickened by the outbreak strain of Salmonella typhimurium.
The strain that has affected these people, called Salmonella typhimurium, usually has its source in poultry, cheese and eggs, the CDC stated. The first case was reported September 3, but most cases occurred between October and the end of December. Of those infected, about 22 percent have been hospitalized and five died. A sixth Salmonella-related death has been reported in North Carolina, but the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention did not confirm it.
The list of products that are considered dangerous to human health includes cookies, cakes, ice cream and other foods that contain peanut butter.
The contaminated peanut butter appears to have been processed at a plant in Georgia. The facility suspected of being the source of the Salmonella outbreak is the Blakely, Georgia, plant of Peanut Corp. of America. Its peanut butter is not sold directly to consumers but distributed to institutions and food companies. Besides recalling numerous products, the company ceased production at that plant. Peanut Corp. of America recalled peanut butter sold in bulk packaging in containers ranging in size from 5 to 1,700 pounds. The recalled peanut paste was sold in sizes ranging from 35 pound containers to tanker containers.
A number of companies have also recalled their peanut butter products because of possible salmonella contamination. The list of companies which have voluntarily recalled peanut butter products includes the Midwest supermarket chain Hy-Vee Inc. of West Des Moines, Iowa, the Akron, New York-based Perry's Ice Cream Co., and the South Bend Chocolate Co. in Indiana, Ralcorp Frozen Bakery Products in suburban Chicago, and McKee Foods Corp. of Collegedale, Tennessee.
No products from any of these companies have been directly linked to the salmonella outbreak, but the advice comes as a precautionary measure until additional information becomes available.
A total of 85 companies received peanut butter products from the Georgia plant.
“The list of products that may be affected is still being determined and is incomplete at this time,” according to the CDC. The FDA is working with product manufacturers to make that list, “which may be extensive.”
The salmonella investigation continues and more recalls may be in the works. The warning does not apply to jars of peanut butter sold in supermarkets and grocery stores, the FDA said.
Salmonellosis is a bacterial infection that lives in the intestinal tracts of human and other animals. The bacterium is usually transmitted to humans by eating foods contaminated with animal feces. It can cause serious and sometimes fatal infections in young children, frail in elderly people and others with weakened immune system. The infection causes diarrhea, cramping and fever. People who think they may have become ill from eating peanut butter are advised to consult their health care providers.
