The list grows as more and more peanut-based products are being voluntarily recalled after a US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) warning was issued on Saturday, January 17.  At this time, the source of Salmonella contamination is thought to be peanut paste supplied to food manufacturers by the Peanut Corp. of America, headquartered in Georgia, but the investigation continues.  While peanut-based products are considered suspicious, the jars of peanut butter sold on supermarket shelves are still thought to be safe.

Thus far, 43 states and Canada have reported 470 cases of people becoming ill from Salmonella infections linked to peanut butter-based products.  Six people have died.

In the initial stages of investigation, peanut butter and peanut-based products sold in bulk to institutional food-service operations were thought to be the source of contamination but the ongoing investigation implicates other items sold to the public in supermarkets across the US and Canada.  Some, but not all, products being voluntarily recalled include:

• Wal-Mart Bakery brands of peanut butter cookies and the no-bake versions of peanut butter and peanut butter fudge cookies.  All three product lines are supplied by Ralcorp Frozen Bakery Products, Inc.
• The South Bend (Indiana) Chocolate Company’s peanut butter fudge, peanut butter chocolate fudge, assorted chocolates, and valentine hearts.
• Food Lion’s Bake Shop peanut butter cookies.
• Little Debbie Peanut Butter Toasty and Peanut Butter Cheese Sandwich Crackers, manufactured by McKee Foods Corp, Collegedale, Tennessee.
• Various peanut butter-flavored bakery items distributed by Hy-Vee, Inc.
• Perry’s Ice Cream’s peanut butter-based products.
• Kellogg’s products that contain peanut butter, including Famous Amos and Keebler brand cookies and Keebler cheese and peanut butter sandwich crackers.  In all, Kellogg has recalled 16 peanut-based products.

These recalls follow an FDA request for Salmonella testing by all 85 food companies that purchase peanut butter or peanut paste manufactured or distributed by the Peanut Corp. of America.  One source of contamination has been traced to the corporation’s plant but the investigation is still under way.

Many peanut butter lovers will surely remember the recall of Peter Pan brand peanut butters two years ago, when a Salmonella outbreak spread to 47 states and caused illness in 625 people.  ConAgra, makers of the Peter Pan peanut butter line of products, made an announcement on Sunday that it does not buy any ingredients for any of its products from Peanut Corp. of America.  All its peanut butter products are considered safe at this time.