WASHINGTON, Jan. 17, 2009
Kellogg's Recalls Peanut Butter Products
Company Pulls Keebler, Austin, Famous Amos Cookies And Crackers After Salmonella Contamination Found At Peanut Supplier
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Kellogg's is recalling 16 products using peanut butter after federal officials confirmed a salmonella outbreak at a Georgia facility that ships peanut products to food companies. (CBS/AP)
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A nationwide salmonella outbreak has sickened hundreds of people in 43 U.S. states and killed at least six.
Late Friday, Kellogg said in a statement it was recalling its Keebler crackers and other products voluntarily in light of problems discovered in Georgia.
"The actions we are taking today are in keeping with our more than 100-year commitment to providing consumers with safe, high-quality products," said David Mackay, Kellogg's president and CEO.
The recall includes Austin and Keebler branded Peanut Butter Sandwich Crackers, as well as some snack-size packs of Famous Amos Peanut Butter Cookies and Keebler Soft Batch Homestyle Peanut Butter Cookies.
Sandra Williams, a compliance officer with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration in Detroit, advised consumers not to eat the products and to contact a doctor if they have any symptoms.
Salmonella is the nation's leading cause of food poisoning; common symptoms include diarrhea, fever and abdominal cramps. The current outbreak is the second in two years involving peanut butter.
"Kellogg reacted promptly to this potential public health risk after receiving notification of the potential problem from their supplier," Williams said.
In Washington D.C., the House Energy and Commerce Committee requested records as it opened its own inquiry.
FDA officials say, however, that much of their information remains sketchy. And new cases are still being reported.
"This is a very active investigation, but we don't yet have the data to provide consumers with specifics about what brands or products they should avoid," said Stephen Sundlof, director of the FDA's Center for Food Safety And Applied Nutrition . Although salmonella bacteria has been found at the Georgia plant, for example, more tests are needed to see if it matches the strain that has made people sick.
Federal officials said the investigation is focusing on peanut paste and peanut butter produced at a Blakely, Georgia, facility owned by Peanut Corp. of America. Peanut paste is used in dozens of products, from baked goods to cooking sauces.
Health officials say as many as one-third of the people who got sick did not recall eating peanut butter.
"The focus is on peanut butter and a wide array of products that might have peanut butter in them," said Dr. Robert Tauxe, director of the foodborne illness division at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The government is also scrutinizing a grower, raising the possibility that contamination could have occurred before peanuts reached the processing plant, which passed its last inspection by the Georgia agriculture this summer.
Peanut Corp. said it was cooperating with federal and state authorities. It has recalled 21 lots of peanut butter made at the plant since July 1 and distributed to institutions, food service industries and private label food companies. The company also suspended peanut butter processing at the facility.
The U.S. House Energy and Commerce Committee wrote the company Friday requesting inspection and internal records dating back four years.
Health officials in Minnesota and Virginia have linked two deaths each to the outbreak, and Idaho and North Carolina have reported one. Four of those five were elderly people, and all had salmonella when they died, though their exact causes of death have not been determined. But the U.S. Center for Disease Control said the salmonella may have contributed.
The CDC said the bacteria behind the outbreak - typhimurium - is common and not an unusually dangerous strain, but the elderly or those with weakened immune systems are more at risk.
Kellogg is based in Battle Creek, Michigan.
For more information:
By Associated Press Writer Hope Yen; AP writers Kate Brumback and Mike Stobbe in Atlanta and Lauran Neergaard and Ricardo Alonso-Zaldivar in Washington also contributed to this report.
© MMIX The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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Add a Comment See all 14 Comments
- Has anyone reading this article even read the label of Kellog''s products?
Half of their ingredients is not even food.
Half of the ingredients are synthetic like ''hydronated oils'' that can be used as hydraulic fluid for fork-lifts.
How about the phosphate-magnesium? ---also used in soap and fabric softners like Downy.
How about the melamine? ---also used in plastic.
Or how ''bout gluten-glue? ---yea, it really is glue you are eating.
These are materials used to make plastics and other synthetics.
These BIG FOOD companies do this to cheat consumers by giving them to garbage to eat instead of food.
The reason why you see people bloated and farting all of the time is because our bodies cannot digest plastics. - Reply to this comment
- Gee and I thought food from China was bad.
Posted by pug_ster at 10:17 AM : Jan 17, 2009
There ya go!! China sabotaged our peanut crop by having Pu ssy Galore fly over it with her high tech crop dusters and spray Salmonella bacteria on it. Ok James, Go get her!!!! - Reply to this comment
- To CVredibility2: Why do you insist on making this an attack on another country or other people. Face it, the PEANUTS were grown and processed in Georgia. That is the State of Georgia, just north of Florida, not the former Soviet Union member. Once in a while Americans screw up. Face it, we are not the PERFECT country.
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- Kellogg has decided to remove the asbestos, lead, radon and mercury from their peanut butter, and replace it with peanut butter.
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- What is the country of origin for the peanuts at the suspected plant in Blakely Georgia? What is the level of hygiene and also language understanding of the workers at this plant?
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- Salmonella is a nasty thing. Once it is allowed to reproduce, it does not die at the standard "above 180 or below 40 degrees" once it has taken hold. It is present in almost everything we put in our mouths, it''s just not at a level that can cause us harm. There are many ingredients in peanutbutter that could be the root cause, but it could (yes, I said could, not is) be as simple as mold on the peanuts.
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- If you read this, and work in food inspection, medicine, large scale food packaging, or food processing, PLEASE COMMENT!
How could Salmonella contaminate cooked - processed foods? - Reply to this comment
- beame= beCame.... see below
apologies - Reply to this comment
- *** is really goin'''' on here? ...
Posted by mnelsonix
Actually it is a mixed bag of ***, we have no idea how many people died from any/all assortments of food related illnesses, especialy more than 75 or more yrs ago, when these things were not even reported. I beleive that in "their" search for the cause of the initial outbreak "they" stumbled upon the p-nutbutter strain, which may truly save a few people, since in the case of the peanutbutter, it was found before it beame a "mystery outbreak" that would also have to be investigated. However, the TOTAL lack of acknowledgement that this is a different strain does suggest that some kind of coverup is in play. Someone trying to save their azz, their profits, their reputation, embarrasment, or maybe just plain old ignorance, all of the above have done far greater damage to the health of the nation than any one outbreak. - Reply to this comment
- Send them to Camp David where Bushit is hiding out this weekend before he slinks out of D.C.
- Reply to this comment
- Gee and I thought food from China was bad.
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- They" won''t tell us that the article quickly dissapeared, once they could scream "peanutbutter!" The original cause to the original cases hasn''''t been found.
Posted by robert7562 at 09:55 AM
Very good point. I nor much of a conspiracy geek, but they did say this is not the same strain. Is this disinformation? Call me ignant, but Salmonella is in raw foods. Peanut butter is made from roasted nuts, not raw.
*** is really goin'' on here? (and yes, I said ignant) - Reply to this comment
- CBS......tests are needed to see if it matches the strain that has made people sick.
According the the first article I read on the outbreak, the CDC had already determined that this strain is NOT the strain that caused the initial, widespread outbreak. This is a second outbreak and someone is attempting to cover themselves by lumping all cases on the peanutbuttter. "They" won''t tell us that the article quickly dissapeared, once they could scream "peanutbutter!" The original cause to the original cases hasn''t been found. - Reply to this comment
- **** there goes my Kellogg stock, as if it hasn''t sunk enough this year!!!!
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