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ConAgra Recalls Tainted Peanut Butter

Complaints, Lawsuits Mount among Peter Pan, Great Value Customers

By Mark Huffman
ConsumerAffairs.com

February 21, 2007

• FDA Failed to Follow Up on 2004 Peanut Butter Contamination • Peter Pan Returning To Store Shelves • Consumers Still Getting Sick From Tainted Peanut Butter • Fourth Peanut Butter Death Reported • Peanut Butter Recall Extended to Products Made as Early as 2004 • Peanut Butter Scare Stirs Congress • Consumers Left Holding the Peanut Butter Jar • Earlier Peanut Butter Contamination Kept Quiet • Peanut Butter Developed as a Health Food • Third Death Blamed on Peanut Butter • Peanut Butter Recalls Spread to Ice Cream & Desserts • FDA Says Peanut Butter Salmonella Outbreak Is "Ongoing" • Salmonella Confirmed in Peanut Butter • Second Death Linked To Tainted Peanut Butter • Death Linked To Tainted Peanut Butter • ConAgra Recalls Tainted Peanut Butter as Complaints Mount • FDA Widens Peanut Butter Warning • Reports of Peanut Butter-Borne Illness Increase • FDA Warns of Salmonella in Peanut Butter --- • Consumer Complaints about Peanut Butter --- • Salmonella: What It Is • More about Food Safety ...

Days after its Peter Pan peanut butter and its generic counterpart, Great Value, distributed at Wal-Mart stores, was linked to a widespread salmonella outbreak, food giant ConAgra has initiated a voluntary recall.

The company says it is recalling recalled Peter Pan peanut butter jars and Great Value jars with the number 2111 printed on the lid in response to the epidemic.

Previously, the Food and Drug Administration advised consumers to discard the jars of the two brands of peanut butter purchased since March 2006. Hundreds of people have reportedly been sickened by the tainted product.

"I'm sick as a dog typing this," said Mari of Hilton Head Island, S.C., in a complaint to ConsumerAffairs.com "I'm absolutely sure that the vomiting, diarrhea, severe nausea and stomach cramps are due to eating Peter Pan peanut butter the night before this started."

Angie of Murray, Ky., wound up in the emergency room after throwing up for "almost ten hours straight."

"I had to have blood work done, a urine culture done and put on IV fluids because I was so dehydrated," she said. "As soon as I heard about the recall I checked the top and sure enough, it had 2111 on the lid. I think I deserve some kind of compensation for the hospital bill."

For Carisa of Pikeville, Ky., the "peanut butter flu" was ever more frightening because she was nine months pregnant when it struck. "I became dehydrated and this brought on early contractions at 3 minutes," she said. "I had to stay overnight in the hospital in the maternity ward because they did not know if the baby would be born or not."

At last word, Carisa was back home and expected a normal delivery later this week.

Medical Care Essential

Physicians and public health officials are concerned by reports that consumers are trying to "tough it out" and are not seeking medical care for Salmonella.

Salmonella • Salmonella Outbreaks: A Recent History • Salmonella: What It Is --- • More about Food Safety

"Individuals who have recently eaten the affected Peter Pan and Great Value peanut butter and who have experienced any symptoms of Salmonella infection should contact their health care provider immediately," according to the FDA.

"Symptoms include fever, diarrhea and abdominal cramps. For persons in poor health or with weakened immune systems, Salmonella can invade the bloodstream and cause life-threatening infections."

The FDA says the recalled peanut butter is responsible for salmonella cases starting in August 2006 in at least 39 states. The peanut butter recall notice advises customers who have the peanut butter to discard the product, because it may lead to food poisoning type symptoms due to salmonella.

The litigation has just begun. A law firm in Seattle has filed a class action suit on behalf of two named plaintiffs and "and all other individuals who became ill with Salmonella infections after consuming Salmonella-contaminated Peter Pan or Great Value peanut butter."

The firm says it has been contacted by more than 2,500 consumers claiming to have gotten sick from the product.

A woman in Chicago has also sued ConAgra, claiming the company’s peanut butter made members of her family ill. The suit, filed in Cook County Circuit Court on behalf of 36-year old Daverne Staples, seeks $50,000 in damages.

At an analysts meeting in Arizona, ConAgra CEO Gary Rodkin estimated the preliminary cost of the recall to be as much as $60 million.

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