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Highlands Today

Recall Of Peanut Products Keeping Some On Edge

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By MARC VALERO

Highlands Today

Published: February 16, 2009

SEBRING - As the peanut-related product recall list grows longer, consumers are checking their cupboards for any items linked to a Peanut Corporation of America processing plant that has been implicated in an outbreak of salmonella illnesses.

The Peanut Corporation of America plant in Blakely, Ga., shipped out products that managers knew might be tainted with salmonella, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration reported.

The Texas Department of State Health Services ordered the Peanut Corporation of America on Tuesday to recall all products ever shipped from its Plainview plant. The order was issued after dead rodents, rodent excrement and bird feathers were discovered Wednesday in a crawl space above a production area during an in-depth DSHS inspection.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports 637 cases of salmonella in 44 states. There have been none reported in Florida. About 10 deaths have been attributed to the tainted products.

"I do use peanut butter and I immediately checked the name brand when the problem arose," Marge Seibold of Lake Placid said Friday. "To think that any company manager would be so negligent in their product, cleanliness, etc. etc. is far beyond my comprehension."

Ann Truax of Sebring said, "I think it is a terrible thing that has happened to this country nationwide."

She primarily buys peanut butter in a jar. The recall does no affect peanut butter in a jar from major manufacturers.
Truax checked the recall list on her computer Thursday night. She did not see the peanut butter cookie mix she purchased recently, but that hasn't eased her apprehension about the product.

"I don't know if I'm going to use it or not," she said.

The School Board of Highlands County Food Service Department had a couple of items related to the recall, but they were not apparently from a batch of contaminated products.

"We had some challenges, but most of the items were items that we had eaten several months ago like a case of peanut butter pies we had ordered six months ago; it's long gone," Food Service Coordinator Martha Brown said Friday.

No recalled items were in stock or were in the process of being purchased, she said.

"There was a little thing to check on our cookies; again these were cookies that were eaten several months ago so obviously we did not have part of the contaminated lots," Brown said.

Each time there is a recall like this, anything that would have even remotely been associated with the suspected product would be recalled, she said.

A number of foods containing peanut butter and peanut paste produced by Peanut Corporation of America from July 1, 2008 to the present were recalled on Jan. 13.

On Jan. 28, PCA expanded its recall to include all peanut products produced on or after Jan. 1, 2007.

Some of the recalls by firms supplied by PCA involve foods sold directly to consumers, such as peanut butter crackers, peanut butter cookies and ice cream made with peanut butter and some involve food product sold directly to institutions, restaurants, the food service industry and private label food companies.

Publix Super Markets has issued a number of voluntary recalls for items that contain peanut products from the Peanut Corporation of America.

"This is one of the largest recalls in U.S. history affecting so many different products," said Publix Director of Media and Community Relations Maria Brous.

The company is closely working with federal agencies and monitoring the recall announcements, she said. Customers are directed to Web sites to see the listing of recalled products.

Go to publix.com to view the UPC lot codes of the recalled items that were removed from Publix.

Publix customers can return recalled items to their local Publix store for refund or exchange, Brous said.

SweetBay Supermarkets have removed about 50 items related to the peanut product recall from its shelves, including varieties of granola bars, protein bars, snack bars and peanut butter and cracker products. Check sweetbaysupermarket.com for the list with the UPC code numbers.

The Winn-Dixie Web site - winndixiegrocerystores.com - has a link to the FDA Salmonella peanut product recall list.

Consumers can identify the products potentially at risk by looking in FDA's searchable list of recalled peanut products at www.accessdata.fda.gov/scripts/peanutbutterrecall/....

Pet owners can find a searchable list of all the food products recalled at: http://www.accessdata.fda.gov/scripts/peanutbutter...

The FDA has not received any reports of illness associated with the pet food products.

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. Healthy persons infected with salmonella often experience fever, diarrhea (which may be bloody), nausea, vomiting and abdominal pain.

To check list of peanut related recalled products:

•For Publix products, go to publix.com to view the UPC lot codes of the recalled items that were removed from Publix.

•For SweetBay Supermarkets, go to sweetbaysupermarket.com for the list with the UPC code numbers.

•For Winn-Dixie, winndixiegrocerystores.com. It has a link to the FDA salmonella peanut product recall list.

•Consumers can identify the products potentially at risk by looking in FDA's searchable list of recalled peanut products at

www.accessdata.fda.gov/scripts/peanutbutterrecall/....

Highlands Today reporter Marc Valero can be reached at 386-5826 or mvalero@highlandstoday.com

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