Salmonella in Peter Pan,
Great Value peanut butters

ConAgra is warning consumers to not eat peanut butter it produces, namely Peter Pan and Great Value peanut butter.

That’s an odd statement for the company to issue, right? Well, in this case it’s a matter of health. It seems jars of peanut butter produced by the company have been contaminated with salmonella, but how it happened is a mystery.

The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) is involved in the investigation, and 289 people in 39 states have gotten sick from using peanut butter from tainted containers. So far, according to the CDC, no deaths tied to the salmonella-tainted peanut butter have been reported, but somewhere around 20 percent of all who have fallen ill have been hospitalized.

Where cases have been reported …

Other states reporting cases of salmonella possibly tied to the tainted peanut butter 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.

CDC officials believe the salmonella outbreak to be the nation’s first stemming from peanut butter.

The ConAgra-manufactured salmonella-tainted peanut butter is tied to a ConAgra plant in Sylvester, Ga., says Dr. Mike Lynch, an epidemiologist with the CDC.

To determine if you have one of the tainted jars, look at the lid. If the product code begins with "2111," ConAgra says you will be given a refund, but you’ve got to return the lid to them. I’d send them a copy of the receipt for postage, along with a note asking for a refund of that, as well, since you already paid for shipping when you made the original purchase. Costs associated with returning the salmonella-tainted peanut butter should be reimbursed to you, as well.

Getting a refund …

Information on the ConAgra site says:

If consumers have this product, they should discard it, but save the product lid. For a full refund, consumers must return the Peter Pan Peanut Butter or Great Value Peanut Butter product lid along with their name and mailing address to:

ConAgra Foods
P.O. Box 3768
Omaha, NE 68103

ConAgra also has a toll-free hotline established for consumers to call 24-hours a day. That number is 866-344-6970.

For more information about salmonella, visit www.ific.org.

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.

What’s happening now …

ConAgra officials said the CDC contacted the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) about the issue, which then sent investigators to the Georgia plant to review records, collect product samples, and conduct tests for salmonella.

Kircher called the recall a precaution.

"We want to do what’s right by the consumer," Kircher said.

How it’s sold …

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.

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

According to Kircher, ConAgra randomly tests 60 to 80 jars of peanut butter that are manufactured each day for salmonella and other epidemiologist. "We’ve had no positive hits on that going back for years," he said.

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.