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Peanut Recall Not Over Yet

FDA warns against purchasing products due to possible Salmonella taint

By Mark Huffman
ConsumerAffairs.com

March 24, 2009

• Complete List of Recalled Products --- • Texas Fines Peanut Plant $14.6 Million For Violations • Lawmakers Chastise Food Executives Over Salmonella Outbreak • Source of Salmonella Contamination in Peanut Butter May Be Found • More Pet Foods Added to Salmonella Recall • Peanut Recall Expanded To "All Ingredients" • Peanut Corporation of America Files for Bankruptcy • PCA Shuts Second Peanut Plant In Salmonella Scare • Peanut Butter Recall Claims Still More Products • Ice Cream, Cookies, Donuts Join the Massive Peanut Butter Recall List • Peanut Recall Expands as Feds Release Findings • Congresswoman Demands Peanut Probe • Feds: Peanut Corporation Knew of Salmonella Problem • Dozens More Peanut Butter Products Recalled • NutriSystem Joins Peanut Butter Recall • Peanut Butter Dog Treats Recalled Due to Salmonella • Peanut Butter Health Bars Recalled • Peanut Butter Recall List Grows • Peanut Butter Recall Spreads To More Products • Kellogg Puts Peanut Butter Crackers "On Hold" Due to Salmonella Concerns • Peanut Butter Recalled Due to Possible Salmonella Contamination • King Nut Issues Peanut Butter Recall • Consumer Complaints about Peanut Butter --- Earlier stories • Judge Nixes Peanut Butter Class Action • 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 ...

The recall of food products containing peanuts possibly contaminated with salmonella has stretched into a third month. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is warning consumers not to consume any peanuts or peanut-derived products sold by Irvington, New Jersey-based Westco Fruit and Nuts Inc. due to possible Salmonella contamination.

Peanuts in such products may have been distributed by the Peanut Corporation of America (PCA), which recalled the peanuts because of concern about Salmonella contamination.

That first recall, issued by King Nut Peanut Butter, occurred on January 11. Since then, scores of manufacturers have recalled billions of dollars worth of food products and at least nine people have died, according to the Centers for Disease Control. PCA's plants in Georgia and Texas were cited for unsanitary conditions.

On March 23, 2009, FDA formally requested Westco/Westcott to voluntarily recall all of its products containing peanuts from PCA because such products may be contaminated with Salmonella. Investigations by the FDA and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention identified products from PCA's Blakely, Ga., facility as a source of the current Salmonella Typhimurium outbreak and led to PCA's recall of the peanuts. Between Nov. 19 and Dec. 30, 2008, Westco/Westcott received three shipments of Oil Roasted Salted Redskin Jumbo Peanuts from PCA's Blakely, Ga., facility.

Westco/Westcott sold these peanuts in various size/packaging configurations and also used them as an ingredient in a variety of mixed nut products and trail mix produced between Nov. 19, 2008, and mid-Feb. 2009.

The FDA urged consumers to check whether they have peanut-derived products made by or distributed by Westco/Westcott in their homes. For those consumers who do, they are advised to dispose of the peanuts in a safe manner by placing them in a plastic bag with bleach, seal the bag properly and place in a trash bin; they should wash their hands after handling. Salmonella is an organism, which can cause serious and sometimes fatal infections in young children, frail or elderly people, and others with weakened immune systems.

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