Jan 11, 2009 11:28 pm US/Eastern
Peanut Butter Recalled After Salmonella Outbreak
BALTIMORE (WJZ/AP) ―
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An Ohio-based company has issued a voluntary recall of two brands of peanut butter after discovering salmonella bacteria inside.
AP
An Ohio-based company has issued a voluntary recall of two brands of peanut butter after discovering salmonella bacteria inside.
Jessica Kartalija reports hundreds have been sickened by the bacteria, though scientists still aren't sure whether that peanut butter is to blame.
King Nut Companies said in a statement issued Saturday that it has asked customers to stop distributing all peanut butter under its King Nut and Parnell's Pride brands with a lot code that begins with the numeral "8." The brands are distributed only through food service providers and are not sold directly to consumers.
"Certainly we are trying to develop a system in this country to identify these connections between these cases throughout the country as quickly as possible," said Dr. David Blythe with Maryland's Department of Health and Mental Hygiene.
Nationwide, more than 400 people have been sickened; 18% of those hospitalized. In Maryland, several cases have already been reported.
It is not clear how many of those cases can be linked to the King Nut recall.
"We work very closely with people here in Maryland, the state and local health departments and people all over the country and with people at the CDC and FDA to try and figure the source out if we can," Blythe said.
King Nut did not immediately respond to calls seeking additional comment Sunday and there was no indication of the size of the recall.
King Nut also distributes peanuts to Southwest Airlines.
Eyewitness News contacted a Southwest spokesperson to ask if the company would be affected. They say the peanuts handed out on Southwest planes are safe to consume and the company will continue serving them.
Preliminary laboratory testing found salmonella bacteria in a 5-pound container of King Nut brand creamy peanut butter, the Minnesota Department of Health said Friday. The Minnesota tests had not linked it to the nationwide outbreak that began in the fall and spread to 42 states.
The company said the tainted container was found in the kitchen of a nursing facility, leaving it open to the possibility of cross-contamination from another source. The company did not say where the nursing facility was located or when the contaminated product was discovered.
"We investigate situations like this to try and find out whether there is a common source between the people who get this infection," Blythe said.
In an effort to prevent salmonella infections, doctors say use common sense, cook meat and poultry and always wash your hands.
Symptoms include fever, diarrhea and abdominal cramps.
"If you're having those symptoms, check in with your health care provider just to make sure and see if there is something that needs to be done and so forth," Blythe said.
Last summer, a salmonella panic over tomatoes cost growers more than $100 million before scientists discovered the source was jalapeno peppers.
(© 2009 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)
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