Dangerous Products News
Peanut Butter recalled as over 300 fall ill
02 / 15 / 2006
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Published: February 16, 2007
OMAHA, Feb. 15 (AP) — ConAgra Foods told consumers on
Wednesday to discard certain jars of Peter Pan and Great Value
peanut butter after a salmonella outbreak sickened almost 300
people.
Lids of jars with product codes beginning 2111 can be returned
to ConAgra for a refund, the company said. The salmonella
outbreak, which federal health officials said had sickened
288 people in 39 states since August, was linked to tainted
peanut butter from a factory in Sylvester, Ga.How the salmonella
entered the peanut butter remains under investigation, said
Dr. Mike Lynch, an epidemiologist at the Centers for Disease
Control and Prevention. Officials at the centers said the
outbreak was thought to be the first from peanut butter. The
most cases were reported in Missouri, New York, Pennsylvania,
Tennessee and Virginia.
About 20 percent of the patients were hospitalized, and there
were no deaths, Dr. Lynch said.
ConAgra officials said they were unsure why the C.D.C. had
identified peanut butter as the source of the problem. A spokesman
for the company, Chris Kircher, said that tests of the peanut
butter and factory were negative butthat it closed the plant
to investigate.The company has not said how much peanut butter
is being recalled.
The Peter Pan brand is sold in 10 varieties, the ConAgra
Web site says. Great Value peanut butter, which other companies
also manufacture, is a Wal-Mart brand. The recall does not
affect Great Value peanut butter made by other companies,
the Food and Drug Administration said.Other states reporting
cases are Alaska, Alabama, Arkansas, Arizona, California,
Colorado, Connecticut, Georgia, Iowa, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas,
Kentucky, Massachusetts, Maryland, Maine, Michigan, Minnesota,
Mississippi, Montana, North Carolina, Nebraska, New Jersey,
New Mexico, Ohio,Oklahoma,Oregon, South Carolina, South Dakota,
Texas, Vermont, Washington, Wisconsin and West Virginia.
Salmonella infection is known each year to sicken 40,000
people in the United States, according to the disease centers.
Salmonellosis, as the infection is known, kills about 600
people annually. The symptoms can include diarrhea, fever,
dehydration, abdominal pain and vomiting.
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