People Urged to Avoid Peanut Butter Products

[DeepModem Mom]

Source: NYT/AP

People should avoid eating cookies, ice cream and similar products that contain peanut butter until the government knows more about possible salmonella contamination. But there is no indication that major brands of peanut butter sold in stores are a problem.

That's the word from Stephen Sundlof, a safety official at the Food and Drug Administration.

Federal health officials say the outbreak has affected more than 470 people in 43 states so far. The contamination may be linked to six deaths.

Officials are focusing on peanut paste, as well as peanut butter, produced at a Blakely, Ga., facility owned by Peanut Corp. of America. Its peanut butter is not sold directly to consumers but distributed to institutions and food companies.

Read more: http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/2009/01/17/health/AP-Salmonella-Outbreak.html

[Gidney N Cloyd]

1. You'd think there'd be some way for food manufacturers to test for salmonella...

[Lorien]

3. And you'd think that we could start producing locally

instead of all buying the same crap from the same source!

[du_grad]

28. Depends on what you mean by local

Peanuts have a long growing season. This is why they grow in the deep south. Most of the U.S. doesn't have the proper growing conditions for peanuts.

http://www.gardenersnet.com/vegetable/pnut.htm

According to this website you need 130-140 day growing season. I am in Ohio and our season is around 90 days in the northern part of the state. You need another 40-50 DAYS which is nearly two months longer. That cuts out pretty much anywhere above the Mason-Dixon line, and to get up to 140 days you're talking the deep south, i.e. Georgia (where the peanut processing plants are located). They also do not grow well in clay and need sandy soil. They are native to South America. I assume they need more humid conditions than the arid Southwest can provide, also.

[Lorien]

31. Not grown in China. I'm not sure if they can be, but most problems

seem to have origins there. Doing ALL the processing at one plant seems to be a problem too; just remember the pet food recalls two years ago.

[Sultana]

2. How else I am going to make a PB & J sandwich?

x(

[Lorien]

4. Almond or cashew butter is just as good.

:9

[surrealAmerican]

21. If you have a food processor, ...

... fill it with peanuts. Switch it on, and presto, peanut butter.

[Sultana]

23. Hmmmm, good idea

Homemade PB is good.

Thx :)

[Demoiselle]

5. So my Skippy (straight up out of the jar) is safe? (eom)

[DeepModem Mom]

7. That's how I read it, Demoiselle.

"But there is no indication that major brands of peanut butter sold in stores are a problem."

[dixiegrrrrl]

10. And you all know you can trust what the FDA tells us, right?

[DeepModem Mom]

11. Well, you have a point there. nt

[PatrynXX]

14. but Famous Amos isn't

crap , those are good on the go. little dry though :P

[Ian David]

6. Peanut Butter makes a great gift for Republican neighbors and acquaintances. n/t

[tosh]

8. Great idea.

:evilgrin:

[closeupready]

9. You're bad. LOL

:rofl:

[Trajan]

12. I have two different brands on hand ....

Jif and Trader Joes ...

I have eaten both, and have lived to post another day ...

[BreweryYardRat]

25. Just finished the jar of Jif I'd been working on since before this whole mess started.

I have no qualms about opening the next one.

(And I HATE food poisoning even more than everyone else.)

[du_grad]

27. According to website, Jif not included

http://jif.com/aboutjif/peanut_butter.asp

[elocs]

13. Considering the long list of things that should make people fearful,

peanut butter should rank pretty low, yet here it is-front and center.

[RavensChick]

15. Well, so much for my snack today.

I can have jelly on my bread, but peanut butter? No thanks.

Thanks for posting this.

[TwilightGardener]

16. How hard can it be to find the companies that this plant supplies, so we

can narrow this down a little? I mean, really...all these businesses should know who they supply, or who supplies them.

[Critters2]

20. Remember the pet food recall? Only two plants involved there,

but the inf just trickled out over weeks.

[FarCenter]

17. It is peanut products sold in bulk to institutions and food companies

http://uk.reuters.com/article/governmentFilingsNews/idUKN1631842420090117?pageNumber=2&virtualBrandChannel=0&sp=true

The recalled peanut butter was sold in bulk packaging in containers ranging in size from five to 1,700 pounds and the peanut paste was sold in sizes ranging from 35 pound containers to tanker containers. None of the peanut butter or peanut paste being recalled is sold through retail stores, PCA said.

The company has stressed that only institutional peanut butter was involved, not name-brand consumer products.

Kellogg Co (K.N) said late on Friday it was recalling certain products that "have the potential to be contaminated," including some Austin and Keebler branded peanut butter snacks and some Famous Amos and Keebler Soft Batch cookies.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said 453 infections had been reported in 43 states and said more cases could be expected. One case was reported in Canada.

"Of these, 22 percent are hospitalized and five deaths have been reported that may be associated," the CDC's Dr. Robert Tauxe said. He said this was an average rate for Salmonella.

and later in the story

Health officials in Minnesota and Virginia have linked two deaths each to the outbreak and Idaho has reported one. Four of those five were elderly people, and all had salmonella when they died, although their exact causes of death have not been determined. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said the salmonella may have contributed.

An elderly North Carolina man died in November from the same strain of salmonella that's causing the outbreak, officials in that state said Friday.

The CDC said the bacteria behind the outbreak -- typhimurium -- is common and not an unusually dangerous strain but that the elderly or those with weakened immune systems are more at risk.

---

So it is quite rare that people get sick, and it is exceptionally rare that they die, especially if they have normal immune systems. OTOH, having had food poisoning, you may not know which end to direct towards the great, white throne for a while.

The essentially tubular nature of humans becomes quite obvious.

[awoke_in_2003]

18. Been there...

trash cans in the bathroom are a great idea :)

[debunkthelies]

19. More information

at this link: www.fda.gov/oc/opacom/hottopics/salmonellatyph.html -

[IndianaGreen]

22. This doesn't include major brands peanut butter, but the peanut butter in cookies etc

I won't give up my peanut butter and jelly sandwiches!

[xchrom]

24. i'm gonna starve to death. nt

[endless october]

30. i hear that.

i love PB crackers.

[shanti]

26. i've been eating ritz bits peanut butter crackers for breakfast

all week, no problems :shrug: won't be buying any more tho....

[endless october]

29. FDA list (link)

list of recalls as it happens :

http://www.fda.gov/oc/opacom/hottopics/salmonellatyph.html#list

hope this helps.

[WorseBeforeBetter]

32. Won't Girl Scout cookie season be soon upon us?

I need my Tagalongs... woman cannot survive on Thin Mints alone!