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U.S. Tests Confirm Salmonella in Peanut Butter
Number of sickened now 329 in 41 states, CDC says
By Steven ReinbergHealthDay Reporter
FRIDAY, Feb. 23 (HealthDay News) -- U.S. health officials have confirmed the presence of salmonella bacteria in peanut butter jars involved in a nationwide recall last week.
As the official count of those sickened rose to 329 in 41 states, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported late Thursday that "product testing has confirmed the presence of the outbreak strain of Salmonella Tennessee in opened jars of peanut butter, obtained from ill persons."
The CDC reported that 51 of the 249 patients for whom clinical information is available were hospitalized and that there are no deaths. However, news reports Friday said a Pennsylvania family had filed a wrongful-death lawsuit Wednesday claiming an elderly woman had died after eating tainted peanut butter.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration continues to warn consumers not to eat any Peter Pan peanut butter purchased since May 2006 and not to eat Wal-Mart house brand Great Value peanut butter with a product code beginning with 2111 purchased since May 2006.
Both brands with that code were made in a Sylvester, Ga., plant run by ConAgra Inc. of Omaha, Neb.
And four jars of both, according to the CDC, tested positive for salmonella.
Opened jars from people who were sickened in New York, Oklahoma and Iowa tested positive for salmonella, Dave Daigle, a spokesman for the CDC told the Associated Press.
"Now the question becomes, how did the salmonella get in the jar," Daigle added.
A spokeswoman for the Oklahoma Department of Health said the state had recovered seven peanut butter jars from 11 cases confirmed by the state, and had found salmonella in at least one, AP reported.
And in Iowa, a Department of Health spokesman said there was a positive match in one of the state's six confirmed cases.
Gary Rodkin, chief executive of ConAgra, issued a news release Thursday saying that the company will take "all reasonable steps to remedy the situation."
"We are truly sorry for any harm that our peanut butter products may have caused," Rodkin added.
Health officials suspect the contamination may have been caused by dirty jars or equipment because the peanuts are usually heated to high-enough temperatures during the manufacturing process to kill bacteria.
ConAgra announced that it has added extra capacity to its toll-free Consumer Affairs hotline (866-344-6970), which is set up to respond to consumer questions and concerns. Callers can also apply for refunds for products covered by the recall.
The other states that have reported cases are: Alaska, Alabama, Arkansas, Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Massachusetts, Maryland, Maine, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Mississippi, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, North Carolina, Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia, Vermont, Washington, Wisconsin, and West Virginia .
Symptoms of salmonella poisoning include fever, diarrhea and abdominal cramps. Salmonella can cause life-threatening infections in people in poor health or who have weakened immune systems.
This outbreak followed major food-borne illness scares in 2006 involving spinach, tomatoes and iceberg lettuce, and was followed last week by recalls of imported cantaloupe, organic baby food and ready-to-eat chicken breast.
According to the CDC, there are an estimated 76 million cases of food-borne illness each year in the United States, the vast majority of which are mild and cause symptoms that last a day or two. Some cases are more serious, leading to 325,000 hospitalizations and 5,000 deaths annually. The most severe cases tend to occur in the very old, the very young, and those with weakened immune systems.
More information
For more information on salmonella, visit the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
SOURCES: Feb. 22, 2007, U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, news release; Associated Press; ConAgra press release
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