Maker: Leaky Roof Tainted Peanut Butter

[Family Ties Forever!]

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Officials Link Peanut Butter To Salmonella
FDA: Certain Jars Should Be Avoided

Updated: 2:07 pm CST February 15, 2007

Omaha, Neb. -- ConAgra Foods Inc. told consumers to discard certain jars of Peter Pan and Great Value peanut butter after the spread was linked to a salmonella outbreak that has sickened almost 300 people nationwide.

Lids and labels of jars with a product code beginning "2111" can be returned to ConAgra for a refund, the company said.

The maker also asked consumers to return product lids or labels to help it track the outbreak.

Stephanie Childs, the company's director of communications, said consumers should send the company the portion of the jars that contains the code. She said if the label contains the code, consumers should peel the label off, keeping as much of the number intact as possible.

A new address to use is:
ConAgra Foods
P.O. Box 3768
Omaha, NE 68103

The salmonella outbreak, which federal health officials said Wednesday has sickened 288 people in 39 states since August, was linked to tainted peanut butter produced by ConAgra at a plant in Sylvester, Ga. How salmonella got into peanut butter is still under investigation, said Dr. Mike Lynch, an epidemiologist at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

CDC officials believe the salmonella outbreak to be the nation's first stemming from peanut butter. The most cases were reported in New York, Pennsylvania, Virginia, Tennessee and Missouri.

About 20 percent of all the ill were hospitalized, and there were no deaths, Lynch said. About 85 percent of the infected people said they ate peanut butter, CDC officials said.

ConAgra officials said it was unsure why the CDC identified peanut butter as the source of the problem. Its own tests of its peanut butter and the plant have been negative, but it shut down the plant so it can investigate, spokesman Chris Kircher said.

"We're trying to understand what else we need to do or should be doing," he said.

Kircher called the recall a precaution. "We want to do what's right by the consumer," he said.

ConAgra officials haven't said how much peanut butter is covered in the recall. The Peter Pan brand is sold in 10 varieties, according to ConAgra's Web site. The Great Value brand, which is also made by other companies, is a Wal-Mart brand.

He said the CDC contacted the Food and Drug Administration, which sent investigators to the Georgia plant to review records, collect product samples and conduct tests for salmonella.

Kircher said ConAgra makes peanut butter only at the Sylvester plant, for distribution nationwide.

ConAgra randomly tests 60 to 80 jars of peanut butter that come off the line each day for salmonella and other pathogens, he said.

"We've had no positive hits on that going back for years," Kircher said.

The plant itself is also regularly tested, he said, though he didn't know how often. He said none of those tests have detected salmonella either.

The latest outbreak began in August, with no more than two cases reported each day, CDC officials said. Only in the past few days did investigators hone in on peanut butter as a source, Lynch said.

Other states reporting cases are Alaska, Alabama, Arkansas, Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Georgia, Iowa, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Massachusetts, Maryland, Maine, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Montana, North Carolina, Nebraska, New Jersey, New Mexico, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, South Carolina, South Dakota, Texas, Vermont, Washington, Wisconsin and West Virginia.

Salmonella infection is known each year to sicken about 40,000 people in the United States, according to the CDC. Salmonellosis, as the infection is known, kills about 600 people annually.

Symptoms can include diarrhea, fever, dehydration, abdominal pain and vomiting.

The recall does not affect Great Value peanut butter made by other manufacturers, the FDA said.

For more information, call ConAgra (866) 344-6970.

Copyright 2007 by The Associated Press. All rights reserved.

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Maker: Leaky Roof Tainted Peanut Butter
Salmonella In Peter Pan, Great Value Sickened 424

Posted: 2:35 pm CDT April 5, 2007

Omaha, Neb. -- ConAgra Foods said Thursday that moisture from a leaky roof and faulty sprinkler in its Georgia peanut butter plant last August allowed salmonella bacteria to infect its finished product and later sicken more than 400 people nationwide.

The Omaha-based company released details of its nearly two-month-long investigation and explained what its plans to ensure that Peter Pan peanut butter is safe when it returns to stores in mid-July.

ConAgra spokeswoman Stephanie Childs said the company traced the salmonella outbreak to three incidents in its Sylvester plant last August.

She said the plant was cleaned thoroughly after the roof leak and sprinkler incidents, but somehow the salmonella remained and came in contact with peanut butter before it was packaged.

ConAgra recalled all its peanut butter in February after federal health officials linked it to cases of salmonella infection. At least 425 people in 44 states were sickened, and numerous lawsuits have been filed against the company.

The recall covered all Peter Pan peanut butter and all Great Value peanut butter made at the Sylvester plant since October 2004. That plant is ConAgra's only peanut butter plant.

Copyright 2007 by The Associated Press. All rights reserved.

[Stormtracker TF]

We had a jar of this Peanut Butter.

[EmoJoe]

good thing i dont eat that peanut butter cause i eat peanut butter all the time. SKIPPY IS THE WAY TO GO!

[Number 9 Dream]

We just pulled Peter Pan peanut butter off our shelves at work last night--they ALL had the 2111 code I'm sooo glad I eat Skippy

[dawsongirl]

Originally Posted by Number 9 Dream

We just pulled Peter Pan peanut butter off our shelves at work last night--they ALL had the 2111 code I'm sooo glad I eat Skippy

eek!

This won't exactly help ConAgra.

[Karen64]

I threw away a half-eaten jar of Peter Pan with the code 2111 from our cupboard yesterday. i don't recall any of us having food poisoning symptoms, though...

[Chelsea]

My friends and I, the other day, were doing some cooking, and the recipe called for peanut butter and other things, so we went to the store to get peanut butter. My friend, who's a bit stubborn, wanted to get the Peter Pan peanut butter - while I didn't see the need for it, and lobbied for the cheap store brand stuff.

I won. :-)

[catlover79]

Yuck. Mark Linn-Baker has declined to comment.

[Zoneboy]

Originally Posted by catlover79

Yuck. Mark Linn-Baker has declined to comment.

Annette Funicello has something to say:


Personally, This is my favorite:


Unfortunately I'm under Dr's orders not to eat any crunchy peanut butter and Simply Jif isn't made in crunchy so no worries there.

[Cactus Jack]

Originally Posted by Joe®

good thing i dont eat that peanut butter cause i eat peanut butter all the time. SKIPPY IS THE WAY TO GO!

Skippy RULES!

w DID have a jasr of Peter Pan and it got thrown away cause of the code, and it was soon after Isd just opened it, cause iM the big peanut butter eatr of the house. But yeah I didnt get sick or anything so yeah.