Do not eat peanut butter containing products for now – warns CDC

Consumers should not eat peanut butter containing products until investigators have determined that the products are free of contamination from the bacterium Salmonella, U.S. Centers for Disease Control (CDC) and Prevention officials said today, Jan. 17.

As of yesterday, Friday, Jan. 16, 474 people in 43 states have become infected a strain of the bacterium known as Salmonella Typhimurium, the CDC said, including 13 in Washington state—three of whom live in King County.

Specifically the CDC warns consumers:

• Do not eat products that have been recalled and throw them away in a manner that prevents others from eating them.
   
• Postpone eating other peanut butter containing products (such as cookies, crackers, cereal, candy and ice cream) until information becomes available about whether that product may be affected.
   
• Persons who think they may have become ill from eating peanut butter are advised to consult their health care providers.
  

Earlier this week, health officials in Minnesota identified the Salmonella strain in a tub of King Nut brand creamy peanut butter, which is usually sold to hospitals, schools, cafeterias, bakeries and other facilities and not directly to consumers. 

King Nut brand peanut butter is produced by the Peanut Corporation of America, which is now recalling two of its products: peanut butter made on or after August 8 and a peanut paste product.

Both products are distributed to manufacturers who use them to make cookies, crackers, cereal, candy, ice cream and other products.

On Jan. 14, the Kellogg Company, as a precautionary move rput a hold on its Austin and Keebler branded Toasted Peanut Butter Sandwich Crackers, Peanut Butter and Jelly Sandwich Crackers, Cheese and Peanut Butter Sandwich Crackers, and Peanut Butter-Chocolate Sandwich Crackers.

Today, Hy-Vee Inc. recalled the follow of its products: Peanut Butter Cookies, Monster Cookies, Peanut Butter Reese’s Pieces Cookies, Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies, Lunchbox Reese’s Pieces Cookies, Lunchbox Peanut Butter Cookies, People Chow Party Mix and Assorted Truffle Fudge.

All sell-by dates are included in this recall, the company said. The products are sold in various packaging and quantities and have a Hy-Vee price label attached.

All items should be destroyed or returned to Hy-Vee for a full refund, the company said.

Salmonella is a bacteria which causes a gastrointestinal infection. According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control (CDC), People infected with the bacteria typically develop diarrhea, fever, and abdominal cramps 12-72  hours after infection.

Most people recover within 4 to 7 days without treatment, but infants, the elderly, and those with impaired immune systems are at risk of developing more severe infections in which the bacteria enters the bloodstream and infects other parts of the body, the CDC warns.

Such infections can be fatal and should be treated with antibiotics, the CDC says.

To learn more:

• Read the press release from Hy-Vee, Inc. announcing the recall below.
• Read LocalHealthGuide’s coverage of the Kellogg recall of the Austin and Keebler products.
• Visit the CDC’s Salmonella Outbreak Update Web page.
• Visit the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s Salmonella Outbreak Update Web page.
• Visit Public Health – Seattle & King County information page which has links to information on Salmonella in Chinese, English, Korean, Somali, Spanish and Vietnamese.

Hy-Vee Inc. Press Release:

Hy-Vee Inc. Recalls Bakery Products With Peanut Butter Distributed in Seven States Due to Possible Health Risk

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE – WEST DES MOINES, IA — January 17, 2009 — Hy-Vee Inc. is voluntarily recalling the following products made in its bakery departments because they contain peanut butter that has the potential to be contaminated with salmonella: Peanut Butter Cookies, Monster Cookies, Peanut Butter Reese’s Pieces Cookies, Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies, Lunchbox Reese’s Pieces Cookies, Lunchbox Peanut Butter Cookies, People Chow Party Mix and Assorted Truffle Fudge. All sell-by dates are included in this recall. The products are sold in various packaging and quantities and have a Hy-Vee price label attached. All items should be destroyed or returned to Hy-Vee for a full refund.

The action was taken immediately after Peanut Corporation of America (PCA), the company that supplies bulk peanut butter to Hy-Vee, issued a recall of the peanut butter ingredient used to make the Hy-Vee bakery products. The recall is a precautionary step because of an unresolved nationwide outbreak of salmonella.

Salmonella is an organism which can cause serious and sometimes fatal infections in young children, frail or elderly people, and others with weakened immune systems.  Healthy persons infected with salmonella often experience fever, diarrhea (which may be bloody), nausea, vomiting and abdominal pain. In rare cases, infection with salmonella can result in the organism getting into the bloodstream and producing more severe illnesses, such as arterial infections (i.e. infected aneurysms), endocarditis and arthritis.

The identified items, sold in all Hy-Vee stores in Iowa, Illinois, Missouri, Kansas, Nebraska, South Dakota and Minnesota, have not been directly linked to the salmonella outbreak and there have been no reported cases of the illness.

Hy-Vee Bakery Manufacturing of Des Moines, Iowa, supplies stores with many of their baked goods. PCA recalled a number of lots of the product this week after health inspectors found salmonella contamination in an already-opened container of peanut butter at a nursing home in Minnesota. Hy-Vee had been shipped product from two of the lots. Production was suspended immediately and stores instructed to remove baked goods that contained peanut butter from store shelves.

In addition, Hy-Vee has sent samples of the peanut butter to an independent lab for testing. Company officials emphasize that all these measures are precautionary and they are keeping close watch on the situation and FDA’s efforts to find the source of the outbreak. Customers with questions should call their local store.

END

Tags: Peanut Butter, Product Recall, Salmonella

Category: Digestive System, Infections, Product Recall