Kellogg Recalls 16 Products as Salmonella Probe Widens

ByABC News
January 17, 2009, 3:51 PM

Jan. 17 -- FRIDAY, Jan. 16 (HealthDay News) -- Cereal giant Kellogg recalled 16 products containing peanut butter late Friday, as U.S. health officials expanded their investigation into peanut products possibly contaminated with salmonella.

As the toll from the outbreak climbed to 453 people sickened in 43 states and Canada, with six deaths, the possibility that contaminated products were on store shelves became an apparent reality.

Kellogg's recall included Keebler cheese and peanut butter sandwich crackers and Keebler and Famous Amos peanut butter cookies.

The company had asked stores on Wednesday to stop selling its popular Keebler and Austin brand peanut butter crackers while it investigated any possible salmonella connection.

Friday's formal recall took the company's action one step further.

"The actions we are taking today are in keeping with our more than 100-year commitment to providing consumers with safe, high-quality products," David Mackay, Kellogg president and CEO told the Associated Press. "We apologize for this unfortunate situation."

Kellogg's recall also followed a request from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for salmonella testing by food companies around the country that may have bought peanut butter or peanut paste from a Georgia facility owned by the Peanut Corp. of America.

U.S. health officials late Friday said at least 85 companies had purchased peanut products from the Georgia plant and 30 had been "urged" to run their own tests for the bacteria, the AP reported.

Dr. Stephen Sundlof, director of the FDA's Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition, told a late Friday teleconference: "We have traced one likely source of salmonella contamination to a plant owned by the Peanut Corp. of America in Georgia, which makes both a brand of peanut butter distributed in bulk to large institutions like nursing homes, and also produces a peanut paste that is distributed to food manufacturers to be used as an ingredient in many products, including cookies, crackers, cereal and ice cream."