FDA confirms salmonella's link to peanut butter

A large multi-state salmonella outbreak that has sickened at least 329 people from 41 states since August, 2006 was definitely caused by tainted Peter Pan and Great Value peanut butter, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration confirmed on Friday.

U.S Food and Drug Administration and the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) in assistance with state public health officials were conducting investigations to figure out the root cause of contamination.

After conducting tests on opened peanut butter jars obtained from people sickened by salmonella, the health officials have confirmed the presence of the dangerous germ.

"Product testing by several states has now confirmed that Peter Pan peanut butter and certain Great Value brand peanut butter are the sources of the foodborne illness outbreak of Salmonella Tennessee that began in August 2006," the FDA said in a statement released late on Friday.

"To date 329 individuals have become ill from consuming the contaminated peanut butter, and 51 of those persons were hospitalized."

The US health agency warned that all those products made up of Peter Pan brand peanut butter and all jars of Great Value brand peanut butter with a product code on the lid that begins with the number "2111” are potentially tainted.

According to FDA, 3/4 ounce and 1.1 ounce single serving packs of Peter Pan brand peanut butter are potentially contaminated products. These products are manufactured in ConAgra Foods Inc.'s Sylvester, Georgia plant, while Great Value peanut butter is a Wal-Mart Stores Inc. house brand made by several manufacturers.

State health departments asked sickened people to bring in opened jars of peanut butter for testing and jars in New York, Oklahoma and Iowa tested positive for salmonella, said Dave Daigle, a spokesman for the CDC in Atlanta.

"Now the question becomes, how did the salmonella get in the jar," Daigle said.

Last week, ConAgra, one of North America's largest packaged foods companies, has recalled all Peter Pan and Great Value peanut butter made at its Georgia plant after federal health officials linked the product to a salmonella outbreak.

Headquartered in Omaha, Nebraska, ConAgra has apologized and ceased production in their Georgia plant. "We are truly sorry for any harm that our peanut butter products may have caused," Gary Rodkin, chief executive of ConAgra, said Thursday.

The FDA last inspected the ConAgra’s plant in February 2005 and found no contaminations.

Every year, about 40,000 people in US get affected with salmonella, which commonly originates from the feces of birds and animals, and nearly 600 people die of it.

The disease can cause foodborne illnesses like diarrhea, fever, dehydration, abdominal pain and vomiting. It could be fatal for those whom immune systems are weakened and the persons with poor underlying health.

Soon after FDA’s acknowledgement of Salmonella outbreak’s link to Peter Pan or Great Value brands, China's Ministry of Health (MOH) on Friday night issued a circular warning consumers and food dealers not to eat and sell two brands of peanut butter made in the United States.

The ministry ordered the Chinese agents of "Peter Pan" and "Great Value" peanut butter to immediately recall the products.