Sugar Savvy

I am sure some of you have been following the peanut butter recall associated with a recent Salmonella outbreak, which has affected over 400 people across America in just the past few months.

According to the FDA, the recall concerns industrial peanut butter and peanut paste (not jarred peanut butter) manufactured since July 1, 2008 by the Peanut Corporation of America (PCA) at its Blakely, Georgia processing plant because of potential contamination. PCA does not sell peanut butter directly to consumers, only to institutions and food manufacturers. The company distributes its peanut butter and peanut butter paste to be used in the production of commercial products such as cakes, cookies, crackers, candies, cereal and ice cream.  Apparently the CDC started to receive numerous reports of illness around mid-September and initiated an investigation. The investigation by the CDC and the FDA led to the discovery of a strain of Salmonella that was associated with the reported illnesses in an unopened canister of King Nut peanut butter (King Nut distributes peanut butter from PCA to long-term care facilities, hospitals, and cafeterias) indicating that the contamination took place at the PCA processing plant.

Since PCA distributes its peanut butter to a number of nationwide food manufacturers, this unfortunately means that some of our favorite peanut butter treats could be affected by the recall. An updated list of recalled products can be found here. Of course, it might also be wise to also contact the manufacturer of any peanut butter product you have recently purchased if you have questions regarding its safety.