Posted on 01/13/2009 4:28:25 PM PST by 2ndDivisionVet
MINNEAPOLIS – The salmonella bacteria that has sickened more than 400 people in 43 states has been conclusively linked to peanut butter, Minnesota health officials announced Monday. Federal officials said the outbreak may have contributed to three deaths.
State health and agriculture officials said last week they had found salmonella bacteria in a 5-pound package of King Nut peanut butter at a nursing facility in Minnesota. Officials tested the bacteria over the weekend and found a genetic match with the bacterial strain that has led to 30 illnesses in Minnesota and others across the country.
"The commonality among all of our patients was that they ate peanut butter," said Doug Schultz, a spokesman with the Minnesota Department of Health. While the brand of peanut butter couldn't be confirmed in every case, the majority of patients consumed the same brand, he said Monday.
"This certainly is one pretty definitive piece of evidence in this case," Heidi Kassenborg of the Minnesota Department of Agriculture said Monday.
The peanut butter was distributed only through food service providers and was not sold directly to consumers. Officials are concerned the peanut butter is still being used, and Kassenborg urged institutions to toss it out.
A woman in her 70s at a northern Minnesota nursing home died after contracting salmonella, although epidemiologist Stephanie Meyer of the state Health Department said it wasn't clear whether the illness or underlying health problems caused the death. The woman was not at the facility where the bacteria was initially found.
The Centers for Disease Control, in a release later Monday, said the salmonella poisonings may have contributed to three deaths. The CDC didn't detail the deaths or where they occurred, and spokesman Dave Daigle said the agency would have no other details Monday.
(Excerpt) Read more at news.yahoo.com ...
I read something this morning about this.
It is a food industry peanut butter that is sold by King Nut from Solon, Ohio (I grew up there).
King Nut is disputing this but it is not from jars that the normal consumer buys off the shelf.
MN & OH:
ACORN lands.
Also home to poisoned peanut butter.
Somehow appropriate.
How does salmonella get into peanut butter?
Feces from some animal is a strong possibility. A leak in the roof, for example, caused one of the early outbreaks. How salmonella got into the water that was on the roof, no one knows for sure. Maybe birds, for instance, which accumulate around peanut butter processing plants.
The roasting of peanuts is the only step that will kill the salmonella. If contamination occurs after the roasting process, the game is over and salmonella is going to survive. Studies have shown that salmonella can survive for many months in peanut butter once it’s present. Fatty foods are also more protective of salmonella, so when it gets into the acid of the stomach — which is our first line of defense — it may not get destroyed. Peanut butter, being a highly fatty food, could survive better.
For: Immediate Release
Date: January 12, 2009
Contact: Martin Kanan,
President and CEO,
King Nut Companies
(440) 248-8484 ext. 244
Subject: Statement to the Media and Our Customers Clarifying the King Nut Peanut Butter Recall
January 12, 2009
On Saturday, January 10, we issued a recall of our peanut butter distributed to food service companies under the King Nut label.
We issued the recall after learning that salmonella had been discovered in an open container of peanut butter with our label. We also made it clear that we do not manufacture King Nut peanut butter nor do we supply any ingredients for the peanut butter. We are simply the distributors.
Since that time, we have been working closely with the Food and Drug Administration and the Centers for Disease Control to help them trace the cause of this contamination. This takes time, but we are cooperating fully with their investigation.
Today, the Minnesota Department of Health suggested that King Nut peanut butter is linked to illnesses nationwide. We only distribute in seven states and therefore King Nut peanut butter could not possibly be the source of a nationwide outbreak of salmonella. (King Nut peanut butter is distributed to food service companies in Ohio, Minnesota, Michigan, North Dakota, Arizona, Idaho and New Hampshire.)
Questions about the manufacture of the peanut butter and nationwide distribution should be directed to Peanut Corporation of America.
We thought it was very important for the public to understand this. We are doing everything we can to get our King Nut peanut butter out of distribution because our first priority is the health and safety of those who use our products. But we can only recall the product that was distributed under our label, and clearly that does not extend nationwide.
Martin Kanan
President and Chief Executive Officer
King Nut Companies
Solon, Ohio
King Nut does not actually manufacture peanut butter. We also do not supply ingredients for the peanut butter we distribute. Peanut butter distributed under the King Nut label is manufactured by Peanut Corporation of America. Before we distribute their products, we require certification that the product has been tested and is safe. The test includes screening for salmonella.
I’ll bet it’s from China.
Ping all you lists.......
Thanks for clarifying. I did not think that they made oeanut butter. I thought that was strange.
I shop there a couple of time a year in the outlet store.
FDA Warns Consumers Not to Eat Certain Jars of Peter Pan
and Great Value Peanut Butter
FDA ^ | 2/14/2007 | FDA
Posted on Thursday, February 15, 2007 11:01:22 AM by HuntsvilleTxVeteran
FDA News
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE P07-21 February 14, 2007
Media Inquiries: 301-827-6242
Consumer Inquiries: 888-INFO-FDA
FDA Warns Consumers Not to Eat Certain Jars of Peter Pan Peanut Butter and Great Value Peanut Butter Product May be Contaminated With Salmonella
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is warning consumers not to eat certain jars of Peter Pan peanut butter or Great Value peanut butter due to risk of contamination with Salmonella Tennessee (a bacterium that causes foodborne illness). The affected jars of Peter Pan and Great Value peanut butter have a product code located on the lid of the jar that begins with the number “2111.” Both the Peter Pan and Great Value brands are manufactured in a single facility in Georgia by ConAgra. Great Value peanut butter made by other manufacturers is not affected.
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