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.
About 20 percent of the 288 infected people have been hospitalized, but none has died, said Dr. Mike Lynch, a CDC epidemiologist.
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, Ga., the FDA said.
Several people have called The Gazette today to say they had found jars with that code in their pantries and that the product had been purchased in Emporia.
ConAgra said it is recalling all Peter Pan and Great Value peanut butter beginning with product code 2111.
carly7 (anonymous) says...
So what do we do with the tainted peanut butter?
February 15, 2007 at 5:27 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
MelissaE (anonymous) says...
You should be able to return it to the store you bought it from for a refund.
February 15, 2007 at 7:15 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
jewely33 (anonymous) says...
I found a recalled jar in my cupboard and it was purchased at the Emporia Wal-mart several weeks ago.
February 15, 2007 at 9:41 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
Phil_Dillon (anonymous) says...
I bought some of the Great Value for my wife's mom about a week ago. She ate quite a bit of if and, fortunately, she hasn't gotten sick yet. I'm going to return it.
One of the big problems with corporate agriculture is that by centralizing many of the functions of farming to reduce costs, the door to large outbreaks of salmonella and e-coli and other parasites has been opened wide. A few tainted peanuts, lettuce, spinach, or meat can be sent through the nation's food chain very rapidly through centralized functions. This is one of the good cases for making small farms and agriculturan producers more competitive with the big boys.
February 16, 2007 at 8:08 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
MelissaE (anonymous) says...
Phil_Dillon, you and I see eye to eye on LOTS of things. I wish more Emporians would research what's really going on.
February 16, 2007 at 7:36 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )