Salmonella Outbreak Linked to Peanut Butter brands

[tippy]

Crap! Can someone check on Brian for me?

Salmonella outbreak linked to 2 peanut butter brands

Story Highlights• Outbreak has slowly grown to nearly 300 cases in 39 states since August
• CDC: Outbreak thought to be first in U.S. history linked to peanut butter
• About 20 percent of the 288 infected people have been hospitalized
• FDA: Don't eat Peter Pan or Great Value with product code starting "2111"


ATLANTA, Georgia (AP) -- A salmonella outbreak that has slowly grown to nearly 300 cases in 39 states since August has been linked to tainted peanut butter, federal health officials said Wednesday.

It is believed to be the first salmonella outbreak associated with peanut butter in U.S. history, said officials with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

About 20 percent of the 288 infected people have been hospitalized, but none has died, said Dr. Mike Lynch, a CDC epidemiologist.

About 85 percent of the infected people said they ate peanut butter, CDC officials said.

How salmonella got into peanut butter is still under investigation, Lynch said.

The Food and Drug Administration warned consumers not to eat certain jars of Peter Pan or Great Value peanut butter because of the risk of contamination.

The affected jars have a product code on the lid that begins with the number "2111." The affected jars are made by ConAgra in a single facility in Sylvester, Georgia, the FDA said.

Great Value peanut butter made by other manufacturers is not affected, the agency said.

ConAgra said it is recalling all Peter Pan and Great Value peanut butter beginning with product code 2111.

"Although none of our extensive product tests have indicated the presence of salmonella, we are taking this precautionary measure because consumer health and safety is out top priority," spokesman Chris Kircher said.

"We are working closely with the FDA to better understand its concerns, and we will take whatever additional measures are needed to ensure the safety, quality and wholesomeness of our products."

The largest number of salmonella cases were reported in New York, Pennsylvania, Virginia, Tennessee and Missouri.

Salmonella infection is known each year to sicken about 40,000 people in the United States, according to the CDC. Salmonellosis, as the infection is known, kills about 600 people annually.

Symptoms of salmonella can include diarrhea, fever, dehydration, abdominal pain and vomiting.

The new outbreak began in August, but just two or fewer cases have been reported each day, CDC officials said.

It was only in the past few days that investigators were able to hone in on a particular food, Lynch said.

ConAgra is destroying all affected products the company still has, the FDA said.

The company will cease production until the exact cause of contamination can be identified and eliminated. Meanwhile, ConAgra advised consumers to destroy any Peter Pan and Great Value brand peanut butter beginning with product code 2111.

The FDA sent investigators to ConAgra's processing plant in Sylvester where the products were made to review records, collect product samples and conduct tests for salmonella.

[Brian Olewnick]

......*gasp*......can't breathe....bodily...fluids leaking....must...have *choke* been....the *gurgle* peanut butter.....in my.....oatmeal.....*wheeze*...this morning.....


Mmmmmm.....peanut butter oatmeal.......

[tippy]

Originally Posted by Brian Olewnick

......*gasp*......can't breathe....bodily...fluids leaking....must...have *choke* been....the *gurgle* peanut butter.....in my.....oatmeal.....*wheeze*...this morning.....

yeah and that's just from your "hit" AFTER you read the story I bet. You have no self-control.

[Gary Sisco]

Once he got some on his pink shirt and had to wear a green one.

[tippy]

Brian, are you still with us?

Didn't Anna Nicole die exactly one week ago today and wasn't somebody talking 'bout how these things come in threes. I am getting nervous. Should we join together in prayer?

Brian, I'm really going to miss you.

[Brian Olewnick]

No fears, Tip. I've been hooked up to an IV sending peanut butter-flavored saline solution directly into my veins, washing out all the bad stuff. (I still have difficulty placing the words "bad" and "peanut butter" in the same sentence).

Actually, the only substance I'm aware of that I'm allergic to is a salmonella variant (I forget the exact name--another "ella" I think) that's found in chicken and chicken products, like eggs. Hasn't happened in quite a while, but in the late 80s--early 90s, I was getting hit with it almost routinely when I'd have a chicken salad sandwich, omelets, etc. The symptoms were pretty consistent: about two hours after eating whatever contained the poison, I'd get a very bad headache. An hour or so later I'd throw up, then I'd feel OK. Usually. Once it hit especially hard and I was down for the count overnight. Had to go to the ER the next day for hydration. Not fun.

My favorite incident (no one's eating lunch now, right?) occurred when we went down to Belize with our friends Marc and Lorri. Marc made a huge omelet for breakfast. A couple hours later we set out in a motorboat for the nearby coral reef to do some snorkeling. On the way there, I began to feel the symptoms but we were already about a mile offshore and, besides, I didn't want to screw up everyone else's plan. So we pulled up near the reef, in about four feet of water, water frequented by barracuda incidentally. There were a few dozen other folk in the vicinity. I discreetly walked around trying to find a spot out of eyeshot, earshot and smellshot and let loose with a colorful stream, dearly hoping the local carnivorous denizens didn't mistake it for chum.

[lynn]

Isn't Great Value the Wal Mart label. That's a lot of Peanut Butter brother.

Sad day when peanut butter isn't safe to eat.

I'm a Skippy girl myself.

[bluenoter]

Peanut butter pulled in salmonella scare

Peter Pan, Great Value brands yanked by ConAgra
after cases in 39 states

The Associated Press
Updated: 1:09 p.m. ET Feb 15, 2007

OMAHA, Neb. - ConAgra Foods Inc. told consumers to discard certain jars of Peter Pan and Great Value peanut butter after the spread was linked to a salmonella outbreak that has sickened almost 300 people nationwide.

Lids of jars with a product code beginning “2111” can be returned to ConAgra for a refund, the company said.

The salmonella outbreak, which federal health officials said Wednesday has sickened 288 people in 39 states since August, was linked to tainted peanut butter produced by ConAgra at a plant in Sylvester, Ga. How salmonella got into peanut butter is still under investigation, said Dr. Mike Lynch, an epidemiologist at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

CDC officials believe the salmonella outbreak to be the nation’s first stemming from peanut butter. The most cases were reported in New York, Pennsylvania, Virginia, Tennessee and Missouri.

About 20 percent of all the ill were hospitalized, and there were no deaths, Lynch said. About 85 percent of the infected people said they ate peanut butter, CDC officials said.

Plant shut down for investigation

ConAgra officials said it was unsure why the CDC identified peanut butter as the source of the problem. Its own tests of its peanut butter and the plant have been negative, but it shut down the plant so it can investigate, spokesman Chris Kircher said.

“We’re trying to understand what else we need to do or should be doing,” he said.

Kircher called the recall a precaution. “We want to do what’s right by the consumer,” he said.

ConAgra officials haven’t said how much peanut butter is covered in the recall. The Peter Pan brand is sold in 10 varieties, according to ConAgra’s Web site. The Great Value brand, which is also made by other companies, is a Wal-Mart brand.

He said the CDC contacted the Food and Drug Administration, which sent investigators to the Georgia plant to review records, collect product samples and conduct tests for salmonella.

Kircher said ConAgra makes peanut butter only at the Sylvester plant, for distribution nationwide.

ConAgra randomly tests 60 to 80 jars of peanut butter that come off the line each day for salmonella and other pathogens, he said.

“We’ve had no positive hits on that going back for years,” Kircher said.

The plant itself is also regularly tested, he said, though he didn’t know how often. He said none of those tests have detected salmonella either.

Outbreak began six months ago

The latest outbreak began in August, with no more than two cases reported each day, CDC officials said. Only in the past few days did investigators home in on peanut butter as a source, Lynch said.

Other states reporting cases are Alaska, Alabama, Arkansas, Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Georgia, Iowa, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Massachusetts, Maryland, Maine, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Montana, North Carolina, Nebraska, New Jersey, New Mexico, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, South Carolina, South Dakota, Texas, Vermont, Washington, Wisconsin and West Virginia.

Salmonella infection is known each year to sicken about 40,000 people in the United States, according to the CDC. Salmonellosis, as the infection is known, kills about 600 people annually.

Symptoms can include diarrhea, fever, dehydration, abdominal pain and vomiting.

The recall does not affect Great Value peanut butter made by other manufacturers, the FDA said.

© 2007 The Associated Press

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/17155561/
(links to AP's most recent story on the salmonella in peanut butter scare)

[rollhead]

It's okay. Brian is a libertarian. He doesn't mind if he is poisoned as long "big gubmit" keeps its hands off of companies like ConAgra.

[Dr Dave]

I guess salmonella can grow anywhere, but I've never heard it associated with peanut butter before.

When I was working in the packaging business in the '80s, there were estimates that more than 60% of fresh poultry sold in the US was infected with salmonella. I'm pretty sure that figure has gotten higher, not lower. What's kind of disturbing is that the most common way for salmonella to be transmitted is when meat (or eggs, for that matter) are in contact with fecal matter. AKA "shit."

It is therfore hard not to think that somehow peanut butter at the Georgia plant had somehow come in contact with fecal matter. Yuck.

[Brian Olewnick]

I little dose of salmonella toughens ya up.

[groover]

I much prefer Trader Joe's Almond Butter to those mass commercial brands of peanut butter. Hasn't made me ill yet!

[Brian Olewnick]

Originally Posted by Dr Dave

It is therfore hard not to think that somehow peanut butter at the Georgia plant had somehow come in contact with fecal matter. Yuck.

You know, you remind me of all those people around here who criticize eai without ever having heard it!

[tippy]

FECAL MATTER?!??

Almond butter is very good but it's a different creature, especially in texture and richness, altogether than pb.

[tippy]

And by the way, I never trusted Peter Pan. And I was a Skippy girl too before lockup.

[rollhead]

Originally Posted by Dr Dave

I guess salmonella can grow anywhere, but I've never heard it associated with peanut butter before.

Well, the FDA is supposed to inspect peanut butter for salmonella contamination.

http://www.fda.gov/ora/Inspect_ref/i...l#SECTION%205:

When official samples are collected at random for filth analysis, use the schedule outlined in Chart 1 above for tree nuts, to determine number of units sampled per lot size.

Mycotoxin

See IOM Sample Schedule Chart 6 in the exhibit section of IOM Chapter 4. Note: do not sample raw nuts for aflatoxin except as a follow-up to violative levels of aflatoxin in finished product.

Microbiological - Sample on assignment.

Peanut butter for salmonella - Collect thirty 8oz subs in duplicate.

Peanut butter for E coli - Collect ten 8oz subs in duplicate.

Standards/Composition

Collect ten 1 oz subs in duplicate.

---------------------------


But FDA inspection has been cut under Bush, no doubt with the support of "libertarians" and deep thinkers at places like the "Cato Institute" who think that inspection is the problem.

No doubt we should leave all the inspection up to the big food giants like ConAgra.


http://oversight.house.gov/Documents...5143-67937.pdf

[groover]

Originally Posted by tippy

Almond butter is very good but it's a different creature, especially in texture and richness, altogether than pb.

True, but Trader Joe's also has smooth & crunchy peanut varieties, none yet linked to salmonella, AFAIK.

I used to eat a lot of Crazy Richard's, too.



After nearly 30 years Crazy Richard's may "still be crazy after all these years. " We make our Peanut Butter the old fashioned way with no salt, sugar, hydrogenated oils or trans fats added. We're Totally Nuts, and that's just what our Peanut Butter contains, only nuts. Oil separation occurs naturally, just stir it up!

[tippy]

Brian


Brian

Don't walk into the light

Stay away from the light

[Dr Dave]

Originally Posted by Brian Olewnick

I little dose of salmonella toughens ya up.

Which provokes another memory from the old days: The African health official who told us salmonella was the kind of disease only rich countries worried about, because all it did was make you sick. He said he could only afford to worry about diseases that actually killed people.

[groover]

Originally Posted by Dr Dave

Which provokes another memory from the old days: The African health official who told us salmonella was the kind of disease only rich countries worried about, because all it did was make you sick. He said he could only afford to worry about diseases that actually killed people.

Then he'll be happy to get a large donation of peanut butter from ConAgra soon!

[tippy]

I ate a beard papa in honor of the memory of Brian and I feel better now about his death. I shouldn't have tried to keep him here with my desire. Brian, you can crossover now.

Bye!

[Dr Dave]

A "beard papa." Is that like hairy papas fritas?

[Jimmy Cantiello]

Btw, one of the easiest things in the world to do is make your own peanut butter. All you need is peanuts or a combination of peanuts and any other nuts, a food processor and you're in business. We do it all the time. One thing though, when you make your own peanut butter you will have to get use to not having peanut butter that contains the rodent hairs and droppings that the government allows in commercially made peanut butter.

[Brian Olewnick]

Killjoy.

Mmmm.....Beard Papas......

[Slurpy]

Originally Posted by bluenoter

OMAHA, Neb. - [B]ConAgra Foods Inc. told consumers to discard certain jars of Peter Pan and Great Value peanut butter after the spread was linked to a salmonella outbreak that has sickened almost 300 people nationwide.

Lids of jars with a product code beginning “2111” can be returned to ConAgra for a refund, the company said.

Just looked at my jar of 90 percent consumed Peter Pan at my desk. Product code "2111..........."

Mmmmm....salmonella. Goes great with bananas!

[tippy]

Yes, beard papa is the ugliest nastiest name for the tastiest delight: a cream puff shell filled with custard instead of whipped cream. It's really a non-phallic eclair without the chocolate frosting.

Peanut butter and banana is SO delicious. Also bananas with chocolate and coffee. There was this frozen yogurt place that would blend ingredients on the spot and one mix was fine ground coffee with bananas and chocolate bits. It was so damn damn good but I've never found that combination since. You had the bitter coffee with the bittersweet chocolate and the creamy rich not-too-sweet taste of the banana - I think the cold temperature kept the banana from tasting too sweet almost like an unripe banana which I love. Yummy.

[rollhead]

Originally Posted by Slurpy

Just looked at my jar of 90 percent consumed Pater Pan at my desk. Product code "2111..........."

Mmmmm....salmonella. Goes great with bananas!

We ate about half of our Peter Pan 2111.

You think I can sell the rest of it on eBay?

[tippy]

oh great biological weapons on eBay. Nice work, fellas! Peter Pan 2111 the new plutonium.

[Dr Dave]

They're Japanese. Whaddaya know!

[Brian Olewnick]

We had a thread on these last year, I think. They're rather awesome.

The one nearest here (Tip, I assume you go to Cafe Zaiya?) is a little independent operation inside a larger Japanese bento box place. There's always the regular vanilla cream and a rotating other flavor--chocolate, strawberry, green tea, coffee, pumpkin. For some reason, they have yet to try peanut butter.

iirc, Jon's wife said there are better versions (other brands) in Japan.