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Peter Pan Returning To Store Shelves

At least five deaths blamed on tainted peanut butter

By Mark Huffman
ConsumerAffairs.com

August 9, 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 ...

Barely seven months after it was blamed for an outbreak of salmonella poisoning, Peter Pan peanut butter is headed back to store shelves.

Food manufacturer ConAgra says the product is completely safe and the company will offer consumers a “100 percent satisfaction guarantee.”

The company recalled all its peanut butter in February after Peter Pan and Great Value peanut butter were linked to the salmonella outbreak.

Though the Centers for Disease Control does not link any fatalities to the outbreak, families of at least five elderly consumers say their loved ones were killed by the tainted product.

"My mother, age 60, ate about half a jar of tainted peanut butter for a week, she suffered flu like symptoms and upon going to the emergency room was taken into surgery and had her gall bladder, appendicitis and part of her intestine removed due to an infection. She died 4-25-07," Steve of Winter Springs, Fla., told us.

“Consumer and retailer demand for Peter Pan has been very strong, and we couldn't be more appreciative of their loyal following,” said David Palfenier, president, Grocery, ConAgra Foods.

The company expressed confidence that its Peter Pan brand would be embraced by consumers upon its return later this month. In a release, it cited research showing that nearly 80 percent of consumers who previously purchased Peter Pan Peanut Butter plan to purchase the brand when it is back on store shelves.

Still, ConAgra felt compelled to offer the guarantee, promising to refund the full purchase price if any consumer is less than fully satisfied.

“We've ensured the highest levels of safety and quality, and have taken extremely thorough steps to provide a product and brand that consumers can trust completely,” said Gary Rodkin, CEO, ConAgra Foods. “We appreciate all of the calls, letters and favorable comments from consumers who have patiently waited for Peter Pan's return.”

By CDC estimates, more than 625 consumers in 47 states became ill after eating peanut butter produced at ConAgra’s Georgia manufacturing plant. However, complaints received by ConsumerAffairs.com indicate many more illnesses likely occurred.

As recently as June, consumers were still getting sick from the tainted peanut butter, according to the CDC.

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