Recalled Peanut Butter Products

A Harvard survey found that while 93 percent of Americans know about the salmonella outbreak, a quarter of them are wrong about the products involved. And on people’s trust of corporations and the government… The poll found one in 3 Americans have confidence in food manufacturers and government inspectors to keep food safe. Harvard researchers surveyed about 1300 Americans. Here's the FDA list of recalled products.

(Associated Press)

Kellogg's Keebler Cookies and Special K Bars On Recall List

Kellogg’s Keebler Cookies and Special K Bars are now on the recall list. They’re part of the growing scope of a national salmonella outbreak linked to a Georgia peanut butter plant.

The Keebler cookies included are Soft Batch Homestyle Chocolate Chunk Cookies and Oatmeal Raisin Cookies in 2.5 ounce packages with a “Best If Used Before" date before June 30. The cookies have UPC codes 3010032708 and 3010037899.

The Special K Protein Meal Bar recall includes only the Honey Almond flavor in six and eight count packages with a best if used before date before Feb. 1, 2010. No other Special K bars are part of the recall. The bars have UPC codes 3800039778, 3800039935 and 3800039931.

The cookies and bars don’t contain any peanut ingredients from the Peanut Corporation of American under investigation, but they were produced on the same line as products that do.

Click for more GPB stories on the peanut butter-salmonella outbreak.

Peanut Butter Investigation Sparks Obama Comment

The nationwide salmonella scare and recall of hundreds of peanut butter products has now drawn comments from the White House. President Obama says he promises a full review of the Food and Drug Administration amid the outbreak linked to the Blakely, Georgia peanut processing plant.

Obama says the FDA has not been able to catch problems as quickly as he would like. On Friday, the FDA requested a federal investigation into Virginia-based Peanut Corporation of America. The Blakely-plant has been closed with its workers laid-off. The salmonella-outbreak has sickened more than 500 people nationwide, possibly leading to eight deaths. More than 400 products have been recalled.

Recalled Peanut Butter Sent to Schools Out-of-State

Salmonella contaminated peanut butter may have entered the National School Lunch Program.

The US department of Agriculture says schools in California, Idaho and Minnesota received products on the rapidly expanding recall list.

Federal officials have sourced the salmonella outbreak to the peanut corporation of America in Blakely. It’s now under federal Criminal investigation because officials say company records show the plant knew of the potential problem last year. Peanut butter tested positive for salmonella at least 12 times in 2007, but was distributed after it was retested and cleared.

The USDA believes most of the recalled food has been consumed.

(Associated Press)

FDA: Blakely Plant Did Not Follow Safe Practices

A day after Georgia agriculture officials made public its inspection reports of a Blakely peanut butter plant, officials from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration weighed-in with its findings. The FDA says 12 times in the last two years the plant found evidence of salmonella contamination, but still sold its product after an outside lab determined it was safe. Federal health officials also say more than one salmonella strain has been identified from the southwest Georgia plant, owned by Peanut Corporation of America. The company in a statement says it has fully cooperated with the investigation. More than 300 products containing peanut butter have been recalled nationwide. More than 500 people have been sickened, with possibly eight deaths linked to the outbreak. Today at the State Capitol, the Georgia House Agriculture and Consumer Affairs committee will meet to discuss the Blakely-plant outbreak.

More Salmonella Deaths From Peanut Butter (Video)

The Ohio Department of Health announced Friday that four deaths have been reported among the 67 cases and 19 people have been hospitalized.

Sixty-seven cases of salmonella poisoning have been reported in Ohio, the most in any state during a nationwide outbreak linked to peanut butter products.

Ohio has now surpassed California in the number of cases reported.

There are six reported food poisoning cases in Georgia so far, but no deaths.

As the recall of salmonella-tainted peanut butter products widens, a Washington state lawyer is now calling on the Virginia-based Peanut Corporation of America to pay funeral costs for several of those who died from food poisoning.

PCA officials say they’re laying off nearly all of the workers at the Blakely facility, and will only keep several managers on duty.

Local officials say 40 to 50 people are employed at the plant.

(Source: CDC)

"As of 9PM EDT, Wednesday, January 22, 2009, 491 persons infected with the outbreak strain of Salmonella Typhimurium have been reported from 43 states. The number of ill persons identified in each state is as follows: Alabama (1), Arizona (10), Arkansas (4), California (62), Colorado (12), Connecticut (9), Georgia (6), Hawaii (3), Idaho (11), Illinois (6), Indiana (4), Iowa (2), Kansas (2), Kentucky (3), Maine (4), Maryland (8), Massachusetts (42), Michigan (25), Minnesota (35), Missouri (9), Mississippi (3), Nebraska (1), New Hampshire (11), New Jersey (19), New York (18), Nevada (5), North Carolina (6), North Dakota (10), Ohio (67), Oklahoma (2), Oregon (7), Pennsylvania (14), Rhode Island (4), South Dakota (2), Tennessee (9), Texas (6), Utah (5), Vermont (4), Virginia (20), Washington (13), West Virginia (2), Wisconsin (3), and Wyoming (2). Additionally, one ill person was reported from Canada."

(Source: CDC)

As the salmonella recall of products containing peanut butter continues to expand, a Washington state lawyer is calling on the company with Georgia operations to pay funeral costs for the six people believed to have died from the outbreak.

That comes as Virginia-based Peanut Corporation of America announced it's laying off the majority of it's workforce.

Click here for more on this developing story.

(With John Sepulvado and the AP)

Equipment Crack May be Cause of Salmonella Outbreak

Georgia officials are still trying to determine the cause of the salmonella outbreak that's been linked to six deaths and more than 150 product recalls.

A crack in a piece of equipment that processes peanuts in a plant in Blakely, Georgia might be the cause of the nationwide salmonella outbreak. That’s according to state agriculture officials.

Department of Agriculture spokesman Oscar Garrison says they will continue to work with the US Food and Drug Administration to find the exact cause.

“There are some environmental samples that were taken by FDA that have turned up some positives as well as a couple of product samples take by our department that have turned up some positive results as well for salmonella.”

While salmonella isn't normally expected to turn up in peanut butter, 486 people from 43 states have contracted the illness.

All of the products recalled so far use peanut butter or peanut paste from the plant in southwest Georgia. But officials say peanut butter on store shelves is safe because they don’t sell directly to consumers.

Peanut Butter-Salmonella Update from CDC

Federal health officials now say a national salmonella outbreak tied to a south Georgia peanut butter plant has grown to 485 cases across 43 states and Canada. The outbreak may have also contributed to six deaths.

The Centers for Disease Control in Atlanta says the case-number has been climbing as lab tests confirm a similar salmonella strain. Officials urge consumers for the time being to avoid products such as cookies, cakes and other foods containing peanut butter. Peanut butter sold in jars is NOT included in the warning. Peanut Corporation of America owns the Blakely, Georgia plant in question. Its product is sold to institutions and food companies, not consumers directly.

ConAgra fire won't halt production

A fire at the ConAgra Foods plant in Sylvester is not expected to affect production of peanut butter. A small fire sparked in a piece of vacuum equipment early Tuesday, but was quickly put-out by firefighters. Production of the plant’s Peter Pan brand peanut butter was stopped for six months last year following a salmonella outbreak, which was traced to the factory.

New lawsuit for peanut butter maker

The southwest Georgia peanut butter maker linked to a salmonella outbreak faces another lawsuit. The parents of an Indiana girl have filed a federal lawsuit against foodmaker ConAgra Foods. ConAgra’s plant in Sylvester, near Albany, is the source of salmonella-tainted peanut butter that reportedly sickened 600 people in 47 states. The Indiana couple says the peanut butter caused their 11-year-old daughter’s kidneys to fail. She is set to receive a kidney from her father on Monday. ConAgra faces several lawsuits stemming from the outbreak.

Salmonella outbreak leads to changes

A nationwide salmonella outbreak that started at a Georgia food plant is prompting the Food and Drug Administration to make some changes. Today the FDA announced it will investigate facilities that make peanut butter and similar products more often. Sylvester-based Con Agra admits high moisture at its plant near Albany allowed salmonella to get into some of its peanut butter, sold under the brands Peter Pan and Great Value. More than 400 people around the country got sick from eating it. The FDA says peanut butter will likely rise on its list of “high-risk” foods.

Water problems cause of salmonella outbreak

Moisture from a leaky roof and a faulty sprinkler caused a salmonella outbreak at a Georgia peanut butter plant, according to the company. 400 people nationwide got sick earlier this year from eating Con Agra’s peanut butter. The company says salmonella spread in the Sylvester plant – near Albany -- after a rainstorm caused the roof to leak and a faulty sprinkler went off twice. ConAgra says it thought the plant was thoroughly cleaned, but somehow salmonella made its way into the peanut butter before it was packaged. The company faces several class-action lawsuits.