More than 125 products have been recalled in an investigation into a deadly salmonella outbreak linked to peanut butter used in processed foods and in institutions, with dog biscuits and diet granola bars among the latest on a list that is growing.
“I don’t think we can determine how many more” products will be recalled, Stephen Sundlof, director of the Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition at the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, said Wednesday of the outbreak, which has sickened hundreds and might have killed six people.
The FDA, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and state officials have traced sources of Salmonella typhimurium contamination to a Blakely, Ga., plant owned by Peanut Corporation of America, which makes peanut butter and peanut paste made of ground, roasted peanuts.
Those products are distributed to food manufacturers to be used as an ingredient in such processed foods as cakes, cookies, crackers, candies, cereal and ice cream. Peanut butter from the plant also is shipped to institutions, such as long-term care facilities and cafeterias.
Over the weekend, the CDC interviewed 57 people who had become ill, as well as hundreds of healthy people, about what they had eaten, said Dr. Robert Tauxe of the CDC, who spoke, with Sundlof, in a telephone conference to reporters. From that information, the agency was led to packaged peanut-butter crackers, Tauxe said. Additional investigation led to crackers that Kellogg Co. had recalled the day before those interviews took place.
On Sunday, Peanut Corp. expanded its voluntary recall to include more products and lot numbers of products from that plant manufactured on or after July 1.
Ingredient used widely
As of Wednesday, 486 people in 43 states and Canada — including 11 in Colorado — have become sick from salmonella, which can cause diarrhea, nausea, vomiting and other problems. Of those, 107 were hospitalized. Six deaths may be associated with the outbreak, Tauxe said.
“More cases are being reported every day,” he said. “The outbreak appears to be ongoing.”
Major national brands of jarred peanut butter are not affected, the FDA has said.
Peanut butter is used in “a huge variety” of foods, and tracking them down “is a very large and ongoing undertaking,” Tauxe said.
If consumers cannot determine whether a particular product contains any suspect ingredients, the FDA recommends they throw it out.
NutriSystem Inc., a Horsham, Pa.-based company, on Wednesday announced a voluntary recall of some of its peanut butter granola bars because they contain peanut butter made by Peanut Corp.
The recall also includes seven PetSmart dog-biscuit products. That company also said the move was precautionary and that it was unaware of any illnesses caused by its products.
The risk to animals is minimal but possible, the FDA said: A pet could suffer fever, vomiting and other symptoms, or show no symptoms, but still infect others.
People who handle contaminated pet foods also could be at risk, the FDA said.
In doubt? Throw it out
The recall includes more than 125 products that contain peanut butter, and the list continues to grow. The latest companies to announce product recalls are NutriSystem,which has pulled some of its peanut butter granola bars, and Pet Smart, which is recalling several types of dog biscuits as a precautionary measure.
The FDA urges consumers to throw away any products they suspect may contain the specified ingredients. The agency has a searchable list of products and brands linked to the recall on its website, .
