FDA Says: "Don't Eat Peanut Butter!"

Principessa

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Consumers urged to use caution eating peanut butter

(CNN) -- Federal officials are urging consumers to put off eating foods that contain peanut butter until they can be they are sure they do not contain products manufactured by the Peanut Corp. of America, some of which were found to contain salmonella.

Food and Drug Administration officials said Saturday that peanut butter and peanut paste made from ground roasted peanuts, manufactured in Peanut Corp.'s Blakely, Georgia, plant were found to contain the bacteria, although a direct link to the strain that has now sickened 474 people in 43 states has not been found.

Six deaths may have been connected to this salmonella outbreak.

Peanut Corp. announced an expanded recall of peanut butter and peanut paste produced from its Georgia plant Friday night. Peanut Corp. doesn't directly supply to supermarkets, so brand-name peanut butters are not expected to be affected, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Instead, Peanut Corp. sells produce in bulk. The peanut butter is sold by in containers from 5 to 1,700 pounds. Peanut paste is sold in sizes from 35-pound containers to tankers.

The peanut paste is used in the manufacturing of cakes, candies, crackers, cookies and ice cream, FDA officials say.

Minnesota and Connecticut health officials have confirmed salmonella Typhimurium linked to this outbreak in bulk containers found in institutions such as prisons, schools and nursing homes.

The FDA is urging companies that make these foods to check whether they use peanut butter or paste produced by the company. The recalled peanut butter was manufactured on or after August 8, 2008; the peanut paste was produced on or after September 26, 2008.

The administration is urging companies to notify consumers if the products they manufacture may contain peanut products from Peanut Corp. It is also urging companies whose products do not contain Peanut Corp. peanut butter or paste to make that information available to the public.

The Kellogg Co. announced a voluntary recall of 16 products, including Keebler and Famous Amos peanut butter cookies, because they contain peanut butter that could be connected to Peanut Corp.

The FDA does not have the authority to order a recall of products. It has to rely on companies doing so voluntarily. Congress would have to pass a law to give the FDA such power

Peanut Corp. products are also distributed by King Nut Co., which voluntarily recalled its products a week ago.

"The majority of products [like cookies, crackers, ice cream] are manufactured with products that don't come from PCA," said Dr. Stephen Sundlof, the FDA's director of the Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition.

However, until people can be sure that the peanut cookies or crackers they have do not contain product from Peanut Corp., the FDA is asking consumers to hold off on eating them.

Sundlof said a previous outbreak linked to salmonella-contaminated peanut butter showed that the bacteria are not necessarily killed if the product is heat-treated or baked.

"It took temperatures up to 250 degrees [Fahrenheit] to kill salmonella," Sundlof said.

Even if a cookie is cooked at 350 degrees, it doesn't guarantee that the center of the food gets that hot, making it possible for some some salmonella bacteria to survive.



CNN's Miriam Falco contributed to this report.
 

nudeyorker

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On the news last night they said Peanut Butter itself was fine, however products containing peanut butter ie. cookies, candy, ice cream etc were all suspect.
 

D_Ireonsyd_Colonrinse

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We're really lucky living in an age where we have federal bureaucracies such as the FDA and the CDC (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) to give oversight and take quick action.

In the Middle Ages, whole populations routinely died from deadly bacterias and viruses. There were no good refrigeration systems. Meat went bad and people simply salted and spiced the bad meat to diguise the rancid taste. When the bubonic (Black) plague, carried by rats and mice and squirrels - and spread to humans via fleas, struck, almost a third of the population of Europe perished.

People die, and will continue to die, from bad spinach, peanut butter, beef, chicken, dairy, etc., but at least we have good safeguards and regulatory bodies in place to restrict the contaminations.

Bush is not responsible for a couple hundred people dying here and there from undetected food bacteria. Bush IS responsible for the right-wing idealogues he appointed to the FDA during his presidency that affect policy (idealogues who believe that the "morning-after" pill should not be made available to women over-the-counter, say; or who believe that "abstinence only" is an effective form of STD control).
 

Skull Mason

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Funny, the FDA should have been saying this for years.

You shouldn't eat peanut butter anyway. Molds such as Aspergillus flavus release mycotoxins which is a recognized carcinogen that causes cancer. These are found on peanuts, and this is known among workers around peanuts as they have to wear protection to avoid the hazards. Farmers and animals around peanuts have increased incidents of liver cancer.

By the way, corn falls into this category as well...think about all the corn products we consume as a country (high fructose corn syrup anybody?)...

EAT VEGAN 2012
 
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D_Bob_Crotchitch

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At the rate my body is falling apart, it might help end the suffering sooner. Pass me some peanut butter.
While you are at it, blame bush if you are fat, bald, have a rotten disposition or whatever it is that makes people not want to go to bed with you. You only have a couple of more days to blame him. Get on with it people. Your time is running out. Oooo blame bush because you have a fat arse and peanut balls that float when you sit in the tub. If your boobs sag, aren't big, you have a saggy butt, and you stink like fish, blame bush. Hmmm
I think my boss cheats on his wife nonstop because of bush. I think my coworker is a dumbshit thief and it's bush's fault.
 
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D_Bob_Crotchitch

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I hope you find peace with yourself

I am at peace with myself. It was meant tongue in cheek. Peeps on here tend to trash anybody who disagrees with them. Nobody is 100% right or 100% wrong all of the time.

I do not see things ever getting better until people stop playing the blame game, and come together without prior political prejudice, and fix things.
 

Skull Mason

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I am at peace with myself. It was meant tongue in cheek. Peeps on here tend to trash anybody who disagrees with them. Nobody is 100% right or 100% wrong all of the time.

I do not see things ever getting better until people stop playing the blame game, and come together without prior political prejudice, and fix things.

gotcha. I agree 100%.