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Number of those sickened rises to 290 nationwide, CDC says
By Steven Reinberg, HealthDay Reporter
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FRIDAY, Feb. 16 (HealthDay News) -- The number of Americans sickened by salmonella-tainted peanut butter rose to 290 across 39 states, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported late Thursday, even as government scientists labored to detect the exact source of the contamination.
Health officials have warned consumers to discard certain jars of Peter Pan peanut butter or Great Value peanut butter that may be contaminated with Salmonella Tennessee, a rare but potentially fatal form of the food-poisoning bacteria. The affected jars have a product code -- located on the lid -- that starts with the number 2111. Both products were made by the ConAgra Inc. food company in a single plant in Sylvester, Ga., according to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.
The FDA is recommending that all affected jars of Peter Pan or Great Value peanut butter purchased since May 2006 be discarded.
How salmonella -- which typically comes from animal feces -- got into the processed peanut butter remains a mystery. According to a report from the Associated Press, rodents and birds sometimes make their way into peanut storage bins at the Sylvester plant, but any salmonella would be killed during the peanut roasting process, when temperatures exceed the 165 degrees needed to destroy the bacteria.
Peanuts are heated beyond that point once more during processing, during the step in which they are ground into a paste and mixed with other ingredients prior to being sealed into jars.
"The heating process is sufficient to kill salmonella, should it be present," Mike Doyle, director of the University of Georgia's Center for Food Safety, told the AP.
The outbreak appears to have started in August 2006, according to the FDA, with the CDC reporting the highest numbers of cases in New York, Pennsylvania, Virginia, Tennessee and Missouri. About 20 percent of those sickened were hospitalized, and there have been no deaths.
Responding to the problem, ConAgra announced that it has added extra capacity to its toll-free Consumer Affairs hotline (866-344-6970), which is set up to respond to consumer questions and concerns. Callers can also apply for refunds for products covered by the recall.
Meanwhile, supermarket chains across the country scrambled to pull the products off their shelves.
Stop & Shop and Shaw's, two of New England's largest grocery chains, ordered their stores to remove all the Peter Pan peanut butter, the Boston Globe reported.
Symptoms of salmonella poisoning include fever, diarrhea and abdominal cramps. Salmonella can cause life-threatening infections in people in poor health or who have weakened immune systems.
Any such illnesses should be reported to state or local health authorities, the FDA said.
Number of those sickened rises to 290 nationwide, CDC says
By Steven Reinberg, HealthDay Reporter
FRIDAY, Feb. 16 (HealthDay News) -- The number of Americans sickened by salmonella-tainted peanut butter rose to 290 across 39 states, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported late Thursday, even as government scientists labored to detect the exact source of the contamination.
Health officials have warned consumers to discard certain jars of Peter Pan peanut butter or Great Value peanut butter that may be contaminated with Salmonella Tennessee, a rare but potentially fatal form of the food-poisoning bacteria. The affected jars have a product code -- located on the lid -- that starts with the number 2111. Both products were made by the ConAgra Inc. food company in a single plant in Sylvester, Ga., according to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.
The FDA is recommending that all affected jars of Peter Pan or Great Value peanut butter purchased since May 2006 be discarded.
How salmonella -- which typically comes from animal feces -- got into the processed peanut butter remains a mystery. According to a report from the Associated Press, rodents and birds sometimes make their way into peanut storage bins at the Sylvester plant, but any salmonella would be killed during the peanut roasting process, when temperatures exceed the 165 degrees needed to destroy the bacteria.
Peanuts are heated beyond that point once more during processing, during the step in which they are ground into a paste and mixed with other ingredients prior to being sealed into jars.
"The heating process is sufficient to kill salmonella, should it be present," Mike Doyle, director of the University of Georgia's Center for Food Safety, told the AP.
The outbreak appears to have started in August 2006, according to the FDA, with the CDC reporting the highest numbers of cases in New York, Pennsylvania, Virginia, Tennessee and Missouri. About 20 percent of those sickened were hospitalized, and there have been no deaths.
Responding to the problem, ConAgra announced that it has added extra capacity to its toll-free Consumer Affairs hotline (866-344-6970), which is set up to respond to consumer questions and concerns. Callers can also apply for refunds for products covered by the recall.
Meanwhile, supermarket chains across the country scrambled to pull the products off their shelves.
Stop & Shop and Shaw's, two of New England's largest grocery chains, ordered their stores to remove all the Peter Pan peanut butter, the Boston Globe reported.
Symptoms of salmonella poisoning include fever, diarrhea and abdominal cramps. Salmonella can cause life-threatening infections in people in poor health or who have weakened immune systems.
Any such illnesses should be reported to state or local health authorities, the FDA said.
