Salmonella in Peanut Butter Linked to Processing Plant

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Finding suggests contamination occurred before product reached
consumers, FDA says
By Steven Reinberg, HealthDay Reporter

More on this in Health & Fitness
Today's Health News

THURSDAY, March1 (HealthDay News) -- U.S. health officials on Thursday
confirmed finding salmonella in samples taken from the Georgia
processing plant linked to contaminated Peter Pan and Great Value peanut
butter.

According to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, inspections of
ConAgra's plant in Sylvester uncovered the same strain of salmonella
found in jars of Peter Pan and Great Value peanut butter responsible for
370 cases of salmonella poisoning in 42 states.

"All we know is that we've got salmonella bacteria that we found in the
environment in the facility that matched the same strain that we found
in patients that the states found in jars of peanut butter," said Dr.
David Acheson, the FDA's Director of the Food Safety and Security Staff
in the Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition.

"The most likely scenario is that the peanut butter became contaminated
sometime during the production, between the roasting process and putting
the product in a jar," Acheson added.

The way the bacteria entered the plant will probably never be known,
Acheson said. "How it got into the environment we'll never know," he
said. "It may have come in on somebody's feet; it's possible there was
somebody in the plant who was sick and didn't know it. But that's pure
speculation."

Although the specific lots of affected peanut butter were recalled, the
FDA learned that ConAgra also sent bulk qualities of Peter Pan peanut
butter to its plant in Humboldt, Tenn. The bulk peanut butter was used
to make three brands of commercial peanut butter topping.

These included Sonic Brand Ready-To-Use Peanut Butter Topping in 6 lb.,
10.5 oz. cans, and Carvel Peanut Butter Topping in 6 lb., 10 oz.
containers. Both fast-food outlets used the topping until Feb. 16 when
the topping was recalled. In addition, the contaminated peanut butter
was also used in J. Hungerford Smith Peanut Butter Dessert Topping in 6
lb., 10 oz. cans, the FDA said.

According to the FDA, the topping was used in the following Sonic
products:

Peanut Butter Shake,
Peanut Butter Fudge Shake,
Peanut Butter Sundae,
Peanut Butter Fudge Sundae.



The topping was used in the following Carvel ice cream products:

Chocolate Peanut Butter,
Peanut Butter Treasure,
Peanut Butter and Jelly,
Reeses Peanut Butter Cup Sundae Dasher.



It is not known if any of the reported cases of salmonella were
connected to the peanut butter topping sent to any of the three
commercial users, Acheson said. "The 370 cases we are aware of are
probably not everybody who got sick. There probably are a lot of other
cases out there and it is possible that some of those individuals got
sick from consuming some of the topping that was used in the Carvel or
Sonic or J. Hungerford Smith product," he said. "I can't rule it out."

Acheson thinks there will be more cases reported over the next few
weeks.

ConAgra has recalled all Peter Pan peanut butter and all Great Value
peanut butter beginning with product code 2111. The recall extends to
products made since December 2005. The FDA's advice to consumers
continues to be not to eat any Peter Pan peanut butter or any Great
Value peanut butter beginning with the 2111 product code.

This salmonella outbreak follows major food-borne illness scares in 2006
involving spinach, tomatoes and iceberg lettuce, and was followed late
last month by recalls of imported cantaloupe, organic baby food and
ready-to-eat chicken breast.

Symptoms of food-borne illness caused by salmonella include fever,
diarrhea and abdominal cramps. In people with poor underlying health or
weakened immune systems, salmonella can invade the bloodstream and cause
life-threatening infections or death.

According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, there
are an estimated 76 million cases of food-borne illness each year in the
United States, the vast majority of which are mild and cause symptoms
that last a day or two. Some cases are more serious, leading to 325,000
hospitalizations and 5,000 deaths annually. The most severe cases tend
to occur in the very old, the very young and those with weakened immune
systems.

Thanks FedMan for the full report. I did make note of this before when
it was posted but um... forgot already! I will put a sticky not on the
pantry wall this time... sheesh...

Verb

By now, I would guess all this stuff has left the grocery store shelves
though. Huh, you think? Probably NOT! lol.

lol yes here it has and hopefully everywhere, I figured someone who may
have eaten at sonic may have gotten sick from it so now they may know
why