Put Down the PB&J Sandwich!

[3113]

Put down that peanut butter and banana snack you were going to have and back away slowly....

(PCA) on Tuesday voluntarily recalled peanut butter produced in its Blakely, Georgia processing facility because it could be contaminated with Salmonella food poisoning. Privately-held PCA said all product affected was produced on or after July 1, 2008. The peanut butter being recalled is sold by PCA in bulk packaging to distributors for institutional and food service industry use. It is also sold under the brand name Parnell's Pride to those same industries.

Additionally, it is sold by the King Nut Company under the label King Nut. None of the peanut butter being recalled is sold directly to consumers through retail stores. PCA said customers who received the recalled product are being notified by telephone and in writing.

PCA initiated the recall after an open container of King Nut brand peanut butter in a long-term care facility in Minnesota was found to contain a strain of Salmonella. According to the Minnesota Department of Health and Minnesota Department of Agriculture, the Minnesota laboratory analyses on the contamination in the container have the same genetic fingerprint as the cases in the national outbreak that has sickened almost 400 people in 42 states.

 

[alyssawesome29]

Thank God I just buy Skippy

 

[Royalwcheese]

yeah it was in bulk supply peanut butter so most people should be safe and it wasn't the popular brands.


So if you stick to the popular stuff and don't buy 5lbs and up I think your pretty safe....but sorta scary since I am in Minnesota right now lol.

 

[rgraham666]

We had a problem here in Canada last year with listeriosis. Over twenty people died.

Can't say I'm surprised. We have a federal government these days that regards money as more important than people.

 

[tickledkitty]

I think I'll go make some peanut butter toast in honor of this. I like living on the edge.

 

[JAMESBJOHNSON]

Someone explain to me how its possible for salmonella to be in peanut butter. Peanut butter doesnt require refrigeration. Agencies usually buy it in large tubs, and the tubs are stored on shelves in the kitchen. I'm guessing its a hygiene problem at the plant.

 

[3113]

I think I'll go make some peanut butter toast in honor of this. I like living on the edge.

You daredevil you! And with all the Costco places around now, I can see someone buying in bulk. Maybe for a big family or a long winter or something.

 

[tickledkitty]

You daredevil you! And with all the Costco places around now, I can see someone buying in bulk. Maybe for a big family or a long winter or something.

I usually only buy the small or medium size jars because it seems to get sort of rancid after a while. Refrigerating it makes it too hard to spread. It's always a dilemma. *sigh*

 

[R. Richard]

You daredevil you! And with all the Costco places around now, I can see someone buying in bulk. Maybe for a big family or a long winter or something.

Hey, for a good peanut butter and banana sandwich, it's worh taking a risk.

 

[xssve]

I just finished a PB&J just before I clicked on this thanks a lot!

 

[3113]

I just finished a PB&J just before I clicked on this thanks a lot!

Oh, xssve, I'm so, so sorry. We'll miss you.

 

[xssve]

Don't be facetious, and quit holding your breath, it was some pretty old Peanut Butter that I just opened recently...

It is however, like a 3lb jar...

 

[OhMissScarlett]

We have Jif, thankfully, since this is all I want when I'm sick.
Mmm, peanut butter and saltines.

 

[xssve]

Huh huh - she said: "King Nut", huh huh huh...

http://www.geocities.com/stimpysvideotrading/bandb.jpg

 

[3113]

Not Safe Yet!

In fact, more snack foods have been added to the list:

The latest national food safety investigation took on new urgency Friday as federal officials confirmed salmonella contamination at a Georgia facility that ships peanut products to 85 food companies. On Capitol Hill, the House Energy and Commerce Committee requested records as it opened its own inquiry. The outbreak has sickened hundreds of people in 43 states and killed at least six. Earlier this week, it prompted Kellogg to pull some of its venerable Keebler crackers from store shelves, as a precaution.

Although the investigation has gone into high gear, Food and Drug Administration officials say much of their information remains sketchy. And new cases are still being reported. "This is a very active investigation, but we don't yet have the data to provide consumers with specifics about what brands or products they should avoid," said Stephen Sundlof, director of the FDA's food safety center. Although salmonella bacteria has been found at the Georgia plant, for example, more tests are needed to see if it matches the strain that has gotten people sick. But clearly, what began as an investigation of bulk peanut butter shipped to nursing homes and institutional cafeterias is now much broader. It includes not just peanut butter, but baked goods and other products that contain peanuts and are sold directly to consumers. Health officials say as many as one-third of the people who got sick did not recall eating peanut butter.

...Officials said they are focusing on peanut paste, as well as peanut butter, produced at a Blakely, Ga., facility owned by Peanut Corp. of America. The concern about peanut paste is significant because it can be used in dozens of products, from baked goods to cooking sauces. "It could be a very broad range of peanut-based products here," said Donna Rosenbaum, head of STOP, Safe Tables Our Priority, a consumer group. "We don't know exactly what comes out of this plant. They really don't have their arms around all that."

...The government is also scrutinizing a grower, raising the possibility that contamination could have occurred before peanuts reached the processing plant, which passed its last inspection by the Georgia agriculture this summer....Kellogg Co., which gets some peanut paste from the Blakely facility, asked stores late Wednesday to stop selling some of its Keebler and Austin peanut butter sandwich crackers. The company said it hasn't received any reports of illnesses.

...salmonella does not thrive in peanut butter, but can remain dormant. Then, when somebody eats the contaminated peanut butter, the bacteria begin to multiply. "That is apparently what happened in this case..." ...Meanwhile, state health officials on Friday announced that a sixth death has been linked to the outbreak which has sickened more than 450 people in 43 states....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.

 

[3113]

Whoops! There's more!

Kellogg Co. on Friday recalled 16 products containing peanut butter due to possible salmonella contamination..."The actions we are taking today are in keeping with our more than 100-year commitment to providing consumers with safe, high-quality products," said David Mackay, Kellogg's president and CEO. "We apologize for this unfortunate situation."

The recall includes Austin and Keebler branded Peanut Butter Sandwich Crackers, as well as some snack-size packs of Famous Amos Peanut Butter Cookies and Keebler Soft Batch Homestyle Peanut Butter Cookies.

Sandra Williams, a compliance officer with the Food and Drug Administration in Detroit, advised consumers not to eat the product and to contact a doctor if they have any symptoms. She also urged careful disposal of the tainted products to avoid the risk of homeless people finding and eating them.

Full article here.

 

[3113]

Put down the Little Debbie Crackers!

Latest! I told you that snack foods would kill ya.

Now it's some Little Debbie peanut butter crackers that are being recalled because there's a chance of salmonella contamination. That's the word Sunday from McKee Foods Corp. of Collegedale, Tenn. The voluntary recall covers all sizes of two kinds of sandwich crackers -- Little Debbie peanut butter toasty crackers and Little Debbie peanut butter cheese crackers. The company said no other Little Debbie products are involved in the recall. McKee said it acted because the crackers have the potential to be contaminated.

Federal health officials have urged people to avoid eating cookies, cakes, ice cream and other foods that contain peanut butter until more is known about a deadly outbreak of salmonella contamination.

Damn. I love peanut butter sandwich crackers. Story here.

 

[voluptuary_manque]

Laura Scudders' is still safe and it's the only real peanut butter out there. Everything else is peanut flavored lard.



Whaddya wanna bet that the salmonella gets traced to Jimmy Carter's peanut conglomerate?

 

[3113]

Laura Scudders' is still safe and it's the only real peanut butter out there. Everything else is peanut flavored lard.

Agreed! And it *still* ain't safe to pick up any peanut flavored snack food:

Kellogg Co. said Monday federal authorities have confirmed that salmonella was found in a single package of its peanut butter crackers, as a Midwestern grocer recalled some of its products because of the scare. Kellogg had recalled 16 products last week because of the possibility of salmonella contamination.

On Monday, the company based in Battle Creek said that contamination was confirmed by the Food and Drug Administration in a single package of Austin Quality Foods Toasty Crackers with Peanut Butter....Also Monday, Midwestern grocer and retailer Meijer Inc. said it was recalling two types of crackers and two varieties of ice cream because of the possibility of salmonella contamination: Meijer brand Cheese and Peanut Butter and Toasty Peanut Butter sandwich crackers, and Peanut Butter and Jelly and Peanut Butter Cup ice cream.

 

[midwestyankee]

Laura Scudders' is still safe and it's the only real peanut butter out there. Everything else is peanut flavored lard.



Whaddya wanna bet that the salmonella gets traced to Jimmy Carter's peanut conglomerate?

There are plenty of fine peanut butters that contain only peanuts, bear. Tsk tsk. Are we being regional about this?

 

[3113]

There are plenty of fine peanut butters that contain only peanuts

Lotta stores now let you make your own. I like that. You pick out the kind of nuts--cashews or almonds or whatever--pour them into the machine and, hey, presto, custom made peanut butter into the provided plastic container. Can't get much fresher and you can make as much as you need rather than only having a choice of the big or small jar.

 

[Katyusha]

Laura Scudders' is still safe and it's the only real peanut butter out there. Everything else is peanut flavored lard.

Everything else? Ingredients in Smucker's Natural Peanut Butter: peanuts, salt.

 

[voluptuary_manque]

Everything else? Ingredients in Smucker's Natural Peanut Butter: peanuts, salt.

Haven't seen than one in the locals. Lots of Smuckers jams and jellies but no peanut butter.

 

[Katyusha]

Haven't seen than one in the locals. Lots of Smuckers jams and jellies but no peanut butter.

There's a shelf in our local grocery store with a small section devoted to natural peanut butters. There are three brands there that have only peanuts and salt as their ingredients but the only one I can remember the name of is Smucker's (mostly because that's the one we have at the moment).

 

[3113]

And, no, you still can't have that peanut butter cookie yet, especially not with that Starbuck's coffee.

Starbucks Corp on Monday said it has pulled all products containing peanut butter from its stores in the United States and Canada as a safety precaution. The move came amid a U.S. salmonella outbreak linked to peanut butter and peanut paste from the Peanut Corp of America's Blakely, Georgia processing facility. Seven deaths have been tied to the contamination, which has made hundreds of sick, according to U.S. health officials. The coffee chain said its products are not affected by a massive recall of peanut butter products and that Peanut Corporation of America is not a Starbucks supplier. Some of the pulled products include the company's protein plate, granola bars and peanut butter cookies.