January 14, 2009Peanut Corporation of America (PCA) has initiated a voluntary nationwide recall of 21 lots of peanut butter, sold to institutional and commercial customers in containers ranging from 5 to 50 pounds. All of the recalled peanut butter was produced on or after July 1, 2008.
The recall comes on the heels of a report from the Minnesota Departments of Agriculture and Health that tied the strain of Salmonella isolated from an opened jar of King Nut peanut butter to the national Salmonella Typhimurium outbreak that has sickened at least 410 people in 43 states. PCA was the manufacturer of King Nut peanut butter.
All of the peanut butter recalled by PCA was manufactured in its Blakely, GA facility for institutional and commercial distribution – to food service operations, cafeterias, long term care facilities, hospitals, and food processors. PCA does not package its peanut butter for retail distribution.
The following lot numbers and products have been recalled. PCA is asking its customers to remove all of these products from distribution, and has set up a special toll-free hotline (1-877-564-7080) to respond to questions from its customers.
Lot Numbers
8193, 8194, 8197, 8233, 8234, 8235, 8241, 8255, 8256, 8275, 8276, 8282, 8283, 8284, 8296, 8316, 8330, 8331, 8336, 8345, 8354
Product List
Creamy Stabilized Peanut Butter: Stock #551000, Pack Size 6 ct / 5 lbCrunchy Stabilized Peanut Butter: Stock #551006, Pack Size 6 ct / 5 lb
Creamy Stabilized Peanut Butter: Stock #551020, Pack Size 35 lb
Natural Course Peanut Paste: Stock #551022, Pack Size 35 lb
Old Fashioned Creamy Peanut Butter with 1% Salt: Stock #551025, Pack Size 35 lb
Crunchy Natural Peanut Butter: Stock #551035, Pack Size 35 lb
Creamy Natural Peanut Butter: Stock #551040, Pack Size 35 lb
Creamy Stabilized Peanut Butter: Stock #551050, Pack Size 50 lb
Dark Creamy Stabilized Peanut Butter: Stock #551050-D, Pack Size 50 lb
Creamy Stabilized Peanut Butter with Monodiglyceride: Stock #551051, Pack Size 50 lb
Crunchy Stabilized Peanut Butter: Stock #551053, Pack Size 50 lb
Peanut Butter Variegate: Stock #551072, Pack Size 45 lb
PCA is continuing to cooperate with FDA, CDC and state agencies in their investigation of this outbreak.
The company has not identified any of its customers by name, except for King Nut, which recalled all peanut butter manufactured for it by PCA even before Minnesota confirmed that the Salmonella it found in an opened jar of peanut butter was identical genetically to the outbreak strain.
We can expect additional recalls as PCA's other customers begin to chime in. While the two recalls announced so far have been limited to institutions and commercial customers, the next tier of announcements could easily include some retail products.
Posts
Perhaps contamination beneath the Peanut Corporation of America plant is the source of Salmonella. What is the previous land-use of the PCA property?
ReplyDeleteUnlikely that the contamination is coming from beneath the plant. Odds are either an incoming ingredient, rodent or bird droppings, or some other environmental cross-contamination inside the plant.
ReplyDeleteNow that the FDA and state are in the plant, there's a decent chance they'll find a plausible source.